Scooby Family Snapshots
by boop-oop-ee-doo
Summary: A collection of one-shots set in my 'Willow's Child' universe.
1. Learning

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

AN: Okay, so, these one-shots are all going to be set at various points in the 'Willow's Child' universe. They'll be mostly in order at first, but may jump around a little later on. This one takes place just after 'Willow's Child'. Enjoy!

* * *

A week had passed since Buffy had resurrected Tara with her Slayerversary wish, reuniting her with Willow. And, while it had been wonderful, there were quite a few things about living that the blonde wicca had to readjust to. Like, for example, the need to sleep, eat, and use the bathroom. While none of these things had been important while Tara was in the afterlife, now she was finding them to be quite a pressing concern.

By far the biggest difference between Tara's old life and her new one was the fact that she had become an instant Mother to a three-year old girl. Now_ that_ took some getting used to. It wasn't the actual mothering that was difficult, as far as that went she was a natural, as Willow was constantly reminding her. It was the 'Mama Tara' title, and the simple idea of being a Mother. It was amazing, of course, and Tara wouldn't trade it for anything, but it was a big thing to be a Mother, and it would take some adjustment.

While Tara was getting used to being a mother, her daughter had to get used to what it really meant to be a child. Sophie, in her short life, had not yet had any experiences that would be said to constitute a proper childhood. Until the night when she had suddenly fled in search of the person who simple instinct told her would help her, she had never seen the world outside the small cave in which she had been held captive. She still hadn't seen much of it. She didn't know what it was like to be loved, or to be part of a real family.

* * *

One night, as Willow researched a strange demon that Buffy and Faith had found the night before, and the Slayer's had headed out to continue hunting said demon, Tara found her daughter staring intently out the window, clutching her teddy bear, Tara Bear, in her small hands.

"Um, hey Sophie" she said, raising an eyebrow as the little girl continued to stare outside with her gaze tilted slightly upwards. "What are you looking at?"

"Those little lights floating up in the sky" Sophie replied.

"You mean stars?" asked Tara, chuckling.

"Is that whats they're called?" asked Sophie, turning to Tara. Tara nodded, and Sophie turned back to the window. "I never sawed them properly before." Tara looked confused for a moment, before things clicked. Sophie had spent almost her entire life trapped in a cave. Of course she'd never seen stars.

"You can't really see them properly through a window either" said Tara eventually, scooping her daughter into her arms. "Come on, let's go take a better look."

* * *

Tara carried Sophie outside, and the two of them looked up at the stars together.

"How does they stay up there?" Sophie asked.

"Um.." said Tara, "Gravity, I think."

"Oh" said Sophie, pausing for a moment. "What's Gravity?"

"That's probably a question for your Mommy Willow" said Tara. She took off her jacket and wrapped it around the little girl, not wanting her to catch a chill. "She could explain it better than I can. But, uh, I guess I could teach you about some constellations."

"Consi-what?"

"Constellations" Tara repeated. "They're like pictures in the stars. Can you see those three bright stars over there?" she asked, pointing.

"Uh-huh" said Sophie.

"And that group of smaller ones there?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well, when you look at them all together, it kind of looks like a pineapple, so we call it the big pineapple" Tara explained. "Understand?"

"Uh-huh."

"Good."

"Mama Tara?" said Sophie after a while.

"Yeah, Sweetie?"

"What's a pineapple?" Tara had to try very hard not to burst out laughing at her daughter's words.

"I'll show you one tomorrow, okay?" she grinned.

"Okay" said Sophie. Tara smiled, cuddling her daughter closer. They both had a lot to learn about the new situations that each of them had found themselves in, everything would be okay if they learned it together.


	2. Too Much Ice Cream

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

AN: This one occurs sometime after the two-part fic 'Faith's Adventures In Babysitting'.

* * *

Willow and Tara were having a night out together, as they now tended to do at least once every couple of weeks. Now they were at a restauraunt, and afterwards they were going to go catch a movie. Tara frowned as she watched Willow stare into her soup, absentmindely twirling the spoon. The redhaired witch obviously had something on her mind, and Tara was going to find out what it was.

"Something wrong, Will?" she asked.

"Huh?" said Willow, pulling her thoughts back to the present.

"Is something wrong?" Tara repeated. "You were looking kind of worried there."

"Nothing's _wrong_ exactly" said Willow. "It's just.."

"What?"

"Nevermind, it's nothing."

"Willow" Tara frowned, crossing her arms, "Tell me." Ever since Tara had been resurrected, Willow had tried to keep any concerning or unpleasant thoughts from her. Tara, however, would have none of it. She was alive, and was therefore privy to every aspect of life, including occasional worrying.

"Well, remember what happened last time we went out?" said Willow.

"You mean when Faith told Sophie the story about her breaking out of prison?" Tara asked. Willow nodded seriously, and Tara laughed. "Will, that really wasn't that bad. Besides, Buffy and Dawn are home too this time, and Faith knows not to tell that story again. Really, what could possibly go wrong?"

* * *

Well, unfortunately, quite a lot. But no, this time, the trouble that arose was not Faith's fault. She and Buffy were sitting in the loungeroom watching TV, leaving Sophie in the kitchen under what they had thought was the responsible eye of Dawn. This was their first mistake. You see, Dawn had given Sophie a bowl of ice-cream. This alone was not a problem. The problem came when Sophie pushed the empty bowl forward and asked:

"Auntie Dawn, can I haves some more?"

"Well.." Dawn frowned. She knew she should really say no. But she really wanted to be a cool Aunt, and a cool Aunt was one who gave their nieces things like ice-cream when anyone else would have said no. "Okay. I guess one more bowl couldn't hurt."

"Yay!" said Sophie.

* * *

Another two bowls later, however, Sophie wasn't quite so enthusiastic.

"Auntie Dawn, I don't feels so good" she groaned.

"What's wrong?" cried Dawn, panicking.

"My head hurts" said Sophie (If Dawn had been in a clearer state of mind she probably would have realised that the little girl had brain-freeze), "And my tummy hurts, too." The little redhead also looked a little pale, and when Dawn noticed this, her own face paled. Willow would kill her if anything happened to Sophie on her watch.

"Buffy, Faith!" she cried, panic levels soaring through the roof as she scooped Sophie into her arms and rushed into the loungeroom, "Something's wrong with Sophie!"

"What?" cried the Slayers in unison.

"Dawn, what did you do?" Buffy shrieked, panicking herself when she saw the colour of Sophie's skin.

"Calm down, B" said Faith, trying to hide her own worried feelings. "It's probably not as bad as it looks." The Dark Slayer stood and moved over to Dawn, gently taking Sophie from her arms. "What's up, Little Red?"

"My head hurts and my tummy hurts" Sophie repeated.

"Okay. When did they start hurtin'?" Faith asked.

"After I finished all the ice-cream Auntie Dawn gived me."

"Right" Buffy frowned, turning to her sister. "And just how much ice-cream did you give her?"

"Um.." the former Key gulped.

"_How much,_ Dawn?" said Buffy, eyes narrowed.

"Uh, three bowls?" Dawn chuckled nervously. At these words, Buffy was about to let loose at her younger sister, but Faith raised a hand to quiet her, before turning her attention back to the child in her arms.

"Well, there's ya problem, Little Red" she said to the little girl. "You just had a little too much ice-cream, and it's given ya a tummy ache. How about we just put you into bed, and when you wake up tomorrow mornin' you'll be good as new, okay?"

"Okay" said Sophie.

* * *

So, Faith carried the little girl upstairs, changed her into her pyjamas, and tucked her into bed, while Dawn and Buffy looked on. Buffy smiled as she watched her girlfriend with Sophie. They had been dating for nearly two months now. Buffy had thought she knew almost everything there was to know about the Dark Slayer, but seeing as how Faith still constantly managed to surprise her, she was beginning to realise that she might not know much at all.

"That alright, Little Red?" Faith asked as she adjusted the blankets.

"Mmhm.. Buts I need Tara Bear" said Sophie. Faith quickly scanned the room, noticing the Teddy had fallen onto the floor beside the bed, and picked it up, handing it to her niece.

"There ya go. Goodnight, Little Red."

"Goodnight, Auntie Faith."

* * *

"See, Will?" said Tara, she and Willow peeking into her daughter's room. "She's sleeping like a baby. No problems at all."

"Yeah" Willow agreed, smiling. "At least now we know we can trust the others with her.."


	3. Proof Of Love

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

AN: This one is just a little Buffy/Sophie bonding kind of thing, since I realised I actually haven't written that much with the two of them.

* * *

Sophie sat on the couch, apparently watching cartoons, though in reality she was deep in thought, as evidenced by her small frown and slightly crinkled brow. For the average three-year old, it would have seemed unusual to find them deep in thought, but considering all she had been through in her short life, and whose child she happened to be, Sophie was far from the average three-year old. So, when Willow found her daughter this way, she did not usually worry about it. Today, though, her maternal instincts kicked in, giving her the impression that the little girl's deep thoughts were not entirely happy ones, and decided that some investigation was in order.

"Hey, Sophie" she said, sitting down beside her daughter.

"Hi, Mommy Willow" Sophie sighed. Willow frowned, seeing that something was obviously troubling her little girl.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" she asked. "And don't say it's nothing, because I'm your Mommy and Mommies always know when something's upsetting their baby."

"I don't think Auntie Buffy likes me very much" said Sophie sadly.

"What? But Auntie Buffy loves you!" Willow cried. "Why in the world would you think that she doesn't like you?"

"She doesn't talks to me very much" said Sophie, "And she doesn't likes being alone with me." Willow thought about this, and realised that her daughter had a point. Buffy really didn't speak to Sophie all that often. However, Buffy was the Slayer, and, as well as her slayerly duties, she had just entered a new relationship, so she had a lot on her mind at the moment. Buffy probably just didn't realise that her lack of attention towards Sophie was upsetting the little girl.

"Look, Sweetie, I'm sure this is all just a misunderstanding" said Willow, kissing her daughter's forehead and standing up. "I'll talk to Auntie Buffy later." She began heading out of the room, then turned back, remembering what she had come in there for in the first place. "Oh, and Mama Tara's making pancakes. Do you want funny shapes or rounds?"

* * *

"How could Sophie think I don't like her?" Buffy asked Faith as they patrolled that night. Willow had had her talk with the Slayer earlier, and the problem had plagued her for the rest of the day.

"Well, you really don't talk to her that much, B.." said Faith.

"Yes I do!"

"Okay, tell me one thing you said to her today" said Faith, smirking and crossing her arms.

"Um.. Good morning?" said Buffy.

"And what else?"

"Well.. I can't think of anything right now, but I'm sure there was something."

"Sure" Faith smirked again. "And when was the last time you were alone with her?"

"Uh.." Buffy frowned. "I can't remember.."

"Right" Faith nodded. "Now don't go bitin' my head off here B, but it seems to me like you might be avoidin' Little Red on purpose."

"What?" cried Buffy. "That's crazy! Why woud I.."

"Hey, I'm not sayin' that you don't love the kid, B" said Faith, "'Cause I know ya do, just as much as much as the rest of us. And because you love her now, you feel more guilty for the not so nice stuff you did, like wantin' to hand her over to the bastards at Child Services, or wishin' that Red had never found her."

"Gee Faith, thanks for reminding me" Buffy frowned.

"But you do feel guilty about that, right?" asked Faith.

"Of course I feel guilty!" Buffy snapped. "Who wouldn't feel guilty saying those things about a sweet little girl who turned out to be my best friend's daughter?"

"Easy, B" said Faith, raising her hands defensively. "Look, all I'm gettin' at here is that I think you might subconsciously be avoidin' Sophie because ya don't want to hurt her again." Buffy opened her mouth to say that that was crazy too, but stopped, slowly realising that her girlfriend may have had a point.

"How do you know all that anyway?" she frowned.

"Because until a few months ago, I was doin' exactly the same thing with you" Faith replied.

"Fine, you got me" Buffy sighed. "What do you think I should do?"

"Well, you solved our problem more than me.."

"I kissed you and told you I needed you" Buffy frowned. "That won't work with Sophie."

"Yeah.." said Faith, brow scrunched in thought. "I guess the best way to fix things with Little Red is provin' to her that ya do love her."

"How am I going to do that?"

"You'll think of somethin'."

"Great help you are" said Buffy sarcastically.

"Look, B" Faith sighed, linking her fingers with Buffy's, "I'll throw around some ideas with ya when we get back, okay?" The fact that the Dark Slayer had sought out her hand first showed just how far she had come since their relationship had begun, and Buffy couldn't help but smile, leaning over to kiss her girlfriend's cheek.

"Okay."

* * *

A few days later, as Sophie once again sat watching TV, Buffy entered the room, walking over and crouching to the little girl's eye level.

"Hey, Soph" she greeted, smiling. "Guess what?"

"Uh.. What?" asked Sophie, confused.

"We're going to have a big day out, just you and me" Buffy replied.

"Okay.."

"We're going to go to the park, and then go out for ice-cream" Buffy continued. "Fun, huh?" Sophie nodded, but was still confused. Auntie Faith had taken her to the park a few times, and sometimes Auntie Buffy accompanied them, but Buffy had never taken her anywhere on her own before. Something strange was going on.

* * *

As she walked through the park a little later, clinging to Buffy's hand, Sophie felt a little anxious. This was not Buffy's fault, although the situation did still seem a little weird. Sophie was always uncomfortable walking through this particular park, probably due to the fact that the cave in which she had been held captive for her first three years of life was hidden at the far side of it.

"Don't worry, kiddo" said Buffy, knowing the cause of the little girl's concern. "We're pretty sure your Mommy Willow killed all the demons, and even if she didn't, and one of them was stupid enough to come out in broad daylight, I wouldn't let them lay a finger on you."

"You wouldn't?" asked Sophie

"No, I wouldn't" said Buffy, shaking her head. "You're part of my family Sophie, I love you, and I'd never let anyone or anything hurt you while I'm around." Sophie smiled, relaxing quite a bit. Maybe she was wrong about how Buffy thought of her.

* * *

The pair soon reached the playground. Sophie played for a while, Buffy pushing her on the swing, before they headed off to get their ice-cream.

"Hey Sophie" said Buffy as they sat in the store, "Remember what I said before about me never letting anything hurt you while I'm around?"

"Uh-huh" said Sophie, tucking into her Strawberry Sundae.

"Well, it kind of occurred to me that at night I won't always be around, so I have something for you." She reached around the back of her neck and unclasped the crucifix necklace she was wearing, before beckoning Sophie to her and fixing the necklace around the little girl's neck, before pulling her niece into her lap. "Your Uncle Angel gave me that when I first moved to Sunnydale, to keep me safe" Buffy explained as Sophie examined the cross. "I don't really need it anymore, but I thought it might help your Mommies keep you safe when Auntie Faith and I are out slaying."

"Thank you Auntie Buffy" Sophie smiled.

"Now" Buffy grinned, hugging her niece closer, "What's this I hear about you thinking I don't like you?"

"Don't be silly, Auntie Buffy" Sophie giggled. "You loves me!"


	4. When You're Ready

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

AN: Okay, I'm kinda in a Fuffy mood at the moment, probably because I just finished the 'Love Will Find A Way' chappie of 'The Wicca Queen 2'. So, this is a little Fuffy thing set some time before Faith's first 'I love you' in the last chapter of the animal arc in 'Dawn's Magical Mishaps'. It does contain another 'first' for them, but you'll have to read to find out what it is!

* * *

Buffy and Faith were on patrol. It had been a relatively quiet patrol, until a group of demons with sharp, dangerous looking claws decided to attack. Most of them were easily disposed of by the Chosen Two, but one managed to tear into Buffy's upper arm, leaving a horrible gash that bled heavily. Needless to say, tore that one to pieces in return for her girlfriend's injury.

"Let me see your arm, B" she said afterwards.

"It's fine, Faith" said Buffy, trying to turn away from her girlfriend and keep her from seeing the blood oozing between her fingers where she held her hand against the wound. "Really." If she had had a similar injury herself, Faith wouldn't have blinked an eyelid, and Buffy, for the most part, would have let her be. But when Buffy was hurt, the Dark Slayer had developed a tendency to overreact, and as sweet as it was, it also got kind of annoying.

"B, just let me take a look" said Faith. "I promise not to freak this time, okay?"

"Okay" Buffy relented, moving her hand. Faith looked at it, and while the gash was rather bloody, it didn't look too deep, but she couldn't be sure.

"It doesn't seem to bad" she said. "I'll clean it up for you and have a better look when we get home."

"Faith, you don't have to.."

"Don't argue with me" said Faith. "I'm good at cleanin' up cuts." Buffy opened her mouth to say something about this, but her girlfriend quickly cut her off. "Don't ask, B. It'll only make you mad at someone who's not there to be mad at anymore, and that won't help anythin'.

* * *

When they arrived home, the two Slayers quietly crept into the bathroom, not wanting to wake any of their housemates. Buffy sat on the edge of the bench, carefully balancing herself so as not to fall into the sink, while Faith rummaged through the cupboard gathering the items she needed to clean her girlfriend's arm. When she had collected these, the Dark Slayer attempted to roll up Buffy's sleeve in order to gain access to the wound, but couldn't get it high enough.

"Um, I can't get at it, B. I need you to.." she gulped, "Take your shirt off." Buffy tried to obey her girlfriend's instructions, but her injury limited her arm's mobility, and she struggled, getting the shirt only about half way off before it got stuck.

"Can you give me a hand?" For anyone who knew the stage that the Chosen two had currently reached in their relationship, it would be easy to understand why Buffy's request made Faith feel so awkward. You see, Buffy had tried not to let the emotional side of their relationship progress too fast, for fear that she would scare her new girlfriend away. On the other hand, Faith had not let the physical side of their relationship progress too fast for fear that Buffy would think that that was all she wanted from her. So, although Faith would often sneak into Buffy's room late at night for what the blonde fondly referred to as 'Snuggle lessons', they still had separate bedrooms, and had not yet made love, a matter that their current situation had unexpectedly brought to a head.

"Sure." Faith's face reddened very slightly, the closest Buffy had ever seen her to blushing, yet not enough to be considered a real blush. She then quickly whipped her girlfriend's shirt the rest of the way off, before instantly turning her attention to the gash on Buffy's arm and away from her semi-nakedness. First the Dark Slayer wet a cloth with warm water, then cleaned the blood away from around her girlfriend's wound. Next she wet another cloth, this time adding antiseptic and gently cleaning the cut itself. Buffy winced.

"Faith.."

"I'm tryin' to concentrate here, B."

"But it stings" Buffy complained. Momentarily forgetting her efforts to avoid her sister Slayer's current half-dressed state, Faith looked up and met her eyes, smirking.

"Seriously?" she said, as her smirk morphed into a full dimpled grin. "You've jumped off a freakin' tower before, and a little antiseptic bothers ya?"

"Watch it, Faith" said Buffy, her expression the perfect mixture of playful and deadly serious that she pulled off so well. "Thanks to the wonders of modern technology it would be very easy for me to make Willow and Tara's home movie of you singing 'I'm A Little Teapot' with Sophie go viral." Faith's grin fell away.

"You wouldn't."

"Oh, I so would" Buffy smirked. Faith playfully swiped a hand at her in retaliation, but was then forced to grab Buffy as the blonde lost her balance, almost slipping into the sink and hitting her head on the cupboard. Unfortunately, the act of saving her girlfriend caused Faith to lose her own balance and she fell backwards, dragging Buffy down on top of her. And now, in this compromising position, they were both painfully reminded of the fact that Buffy was still half-naked. And just as Buffy moved to kiss Faith, the Dark Slayer sat up, gently pushing her girlfriend off of her.

"Um.." Faith paused, trying to get her breathing under control. "Your arm B, remember?"

"Oh, right" Buffy sighed, getting to her feet. Faith quickly gave the cut one last go-over with the antiseptic, then placed a bandage over it and gave her girlfriend a barely noticeable peck on the cheek, before attempting to flee the bathroom.

"Well, it's gettin' pretty late. Night, B." When Faith headed for the door, Buffy had barely a second to make a decision. They had reached a stalemate, she realised, and one way or the other, something had to give sometime, and, Buffy decided, that time may as well be now. And as she jerked her girlfriend around to face her, kissing her with afierceness and passion that left her with no doubt as to where it was supposed to lead, Buffy realised how much she really did want this, how ready she was to take this step with Faith. Faith on the other hand, still plagued by insecurities regarding her relationship and herself, was not so sure, and pushed her girlfriend away. "What are you doin', B?"

"Kissing you" Buffy teased.

"Don't joke, Buffy" Faith frowned. "That wasn't just any regular kissin', and you're not wearin' too much.."

"I know" Buffy grinned.

"Are you sure?" asked Faith, now knowing what her girlfriend wanted. "I mean, really sure?"

"I am" said Buffy, nodding. When Faith still hesitated, she added, "But if you aren't ready.." She took few steps backwards, but Faith still clung to her arm, pulling her back, mumbling before she kissed her,

"If I hurt you, kill me."

* * *

"Well," said Buffy breathlessly, "That didn't hurt."

"No" Faith smiled, pulling Buffy closer to her side and dropping a kiss to her forehead. She was mildly surprised at herself for doing something so coupley, but since it had come so naturally to her now it didn't phase her much. "You're amazin', B."

"You're not too bad yourself, Faith" Buffy chuckled. They lay there for a long time, just snuggling and enjoying the afterglow, until eventually Faith drifted off to sleep. Buffy pressed a feather-light kiss to her lips. "When you're ready to hear that I love you, let me know, okay?"


	5. Pancakes And Parties

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

AN: More fluff! But this one stars Willow and Tara, and Sophie, of course :)

* * *

Early on the morning of a very special day, Willow Rosenberg woke, stretching and yawning to rid herself of the haze of sleep, then smiled. This had been latest in a long line of undisturbed nights of sleep that had begun when Tara was resurrected. Willow rolled over to look at her girlfriend, still sleeping peacefully beside her. She reached out to brush a few stray hairs away from Tara's face, then kissed her forehead, smiling when the blonde emitted a soft, happy sigh at the contact. At that moment, a small face with wide blue eyes framed by flaming red hair poked into the room, frowning.

"Mommy Willow!" Sophie whispered urgently, "Come on! We gots to get everything ready before Mama Tara wakes up!"

"Okay" said Willow quietly, climbing out of bed. "I'm coming."

* * *

When Tara did begin to wake, a little over half an hour later, she attempted to snuggle closer to Willow, only to find the other girl missing. She frowned. Willow almost never woke up before Tara, and on the rare occasions when she did, she had always stayed and snuggled with her, or watched over her, until she woke up. The fact that she wasn't was unusual, so Tara was concerned. But, just when she had decided to go and investigate, the door creaked open and Willow appeared, carrying a tray which contained a plate of syrup-covered pancakes, and a small vase with two daisies in it. Sophie stood grinning at her feet, covered in what looked like flour and one or two splotches of pancake batter.

"Good morning, baby" Willlow smiled.

"Good morning, Mama Tara" echoed Sophie happily.

"Um.. good morning" said Tara, confused. She gestured to the tray. "What's all this for?" At this question, Willow looked to Sophie, both their smiles widening. Tara really hadn't remembered what today was.

"Happy Birthday!" they cheered in unison.

"Birthday?" said Tara confusion growing as she went over dates in her head, until realisation hit. "It is my Birthday!"

"Mmhm" Willow began. "I'm not really sure how aging works when you've died and been resurrected, but thanks to little old me and my awesome computer hacking skills, all official records say that you never died, so according to them you're turning twenty-six.." Tara chuckled at her girlfriend, shaking her head, and Willow blushed, realising she'd been babbling. "Anyway, Happy Birthday!" She handed Tara the tray, and gave her a peck on the cheek. "We made you pancakes. They're nowhere near as good as yours, but eat up!"

"I'm sure they're fine, Willow" Tara smiled as she cut into the pancakes and took a bite. "Boy, I can't believe I forgot my own birthday!"

"It's understandable that you would" said Willow with a shrug. "I mean, you didn't really have much need for remembering your birthday while you were in heaven, and since you've been back you haven't focused much on yourself, it's been all about me and Sophie.."

"Mommy Willow, you're babbling again" Sophie interrupted.

"Sorry" said Willow, embarassed, before turning back to Tara. "What I'm trying to say is, you've spent so much time worrying about us, but we want to make sure that today is all about you."

"'Cause it's your birthday!" said Sophie.

"Yeah" Willow grinned. "Today, we are your humble servants. Whatever you want, it's yours."

"Uh-huh" said Sophie, nodding.

"Hmm.." Tara thought, swallowing a mouthful. "Well, I would like a cuddle from my two favourite people in the world."

"Who's your favourite peoples then?" asked Sophie, confused.

"You and Mommy Willow, silly!" Tara laughed, placing the tray on the bedside table and beckoning them closer. "Now come here, both of you. Cuddles."

"We can do that" Willow smiled, as she and Sophie settled onto the bed either side of the bed.

* * *

The rest of the Scoobies were also committed to making this birthday a special one for Tara, and, under Willow's instructions, had spent the last couple of weeks planning a party. The party was held that night, to ensure that Xander, who had had to work during the day, could attend without trouble. Giles and Andrew had not been able to make the trip this time, but had sent a special spellbook from the Slayer School's library as a gift. Unfortunately, the Fang Gang couldn't make it either, due to the threat of the Senior Partners, and a heated argument that Angel had been having with Connor about how involved his son should be in fighting said threat. However Spike, who had always had a soft spot for Tara and had been quite happy to learn of her resurrection, had sent his own gift of rare magical herbs which he had stolen from Wolfram & Heart, but the Fang Gang, none of them being magically inclined, had not been able to find a use for. Buffy's suggestion that she should bake a cake was instantly shot down. Instead, the cake was baked, surprisingly, by Faith, who made a nice looking chocolate cake. When questioned on her baking abilities, she simply said that you learned to do a lot of things when nobody was around to do them for you, and everyone chose to leave it at that.

The group had just sung 'Happy Birthday', and watched Tara blow out the twenty-six little candles that had adorned the cake. Faith pulled out the candles, while Willow handed Tara a knife to cut the cake.

"If you hit the bottom, you have to kiss the nearest girl" she reminded her teasingly. Tara smirked as she cut the cake, and ensured that the knife made an audibl clink as it hit the plate.

"Oops" she chuckled, leaning over to kiss Willow.

* * *

The party continued quite late into the night, and when it ended, the everybody else offered to clean up, leaving Willow and Tara alone. Sophie had fallen asleep on the couch, so Tara scooped her daughter into her arms and carried her upstairs, Willow following them.

"I know I'm not supposed to ask this, but.. What did you wish for when you blew out your candles?"

"I didn't wish for anything" said Tara. Willow opened her mouth to protest, but Tara silenced her with a quick kiss, smiling. "I didn't need to."


	6. First Impressions

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

AN: This one is about Connor when he first moves into the Scooby house. Oh, and for anyone who doesn't remember 'Reilly' was the name of the human family Connor lived with after his memory was modified.

* * *

Connor dragged his suitcase out of the boot of the car, and observed his new surroundings, sighing. His Father had assured him that he would be doing good by coming here, that he would still be fighting evil, but to him this place looked no different from any other suburban home, in any other suburban street. He sighed again, pulling the suitcase behind him as he walked up to the front porch, where his Father was knocking on the door, and Spike was listening to Illyria complain about how the house didn't seem like an appropriate base of operations for a great warrior such as the Slayer. She had that right. The door of the house opened to reveal a blonde woman who gave both Angel and Spike quick hugs, before turning her attention to Connor. He guessed that this must have been Buffy, the Slayer.

"So, you must be the famous Connor I've heard so much about" she smiled. "Hi!"

"Yeah.. hi" said Connor rather awkwardly.

"Uh, come on in!" she waved them inside, not commenting on Connor's discomfort. "Take your bags upstairs, I'll come show you to your room in a minute." Connor did as he was told, hearing the voices of his Father and Buffy as he climbed the stairs.

"Thanks for doing this Buffy, really. I just didn't know what else to do with him."

"It's no problem Angel, we have plenty of room.."

* * *

Connor dragged the suitcase a little way along the hallway at the top of the stairs, then stopped to wait for Buffy. He tensed when he heard a small noise and tried to keep as quiet as possible. Buffy hadn't told him that anyone else was up here, so he was inclined to take the noise as suspicious. Then, as a door creaked open in front of him, he attacked.. Causing the young brunette woman who had stepped out of it to scream loudly. He managed to halt the punch he had been throwing just in time.

"What are you doing here?" he yelled.

"I live here! What are _you_ doing here?" the girl cried. Connor realised that he was obviously missing something here, but before he could question the girl further, Angel and Buffy had rushed up the stairs, preparing to attack themselves, but stopping when they realised what had happened.

"I see you've met my sister then" Buffy laughed, lowering her fists.

* * *

After introducing him to the other members of the household whom he was not yet acquainted with in order to avoid further incidents, Buffy showed Connor to his room, then left him alone to become accustomed with it. He flopped onto his new bed, sighing again. After a while, Dawn peeked around the door.

"Hey" she greeted a little sheepishly.

"Hey" Connor sat up, embarrassed.

"I'm sorry about before. I knew you were coming, I should have just introduced myself instead of screaming."

"No, it was my fault" said Connor. "I knew other people lived here, I should have checked who you were before I tried to attack you. I know it's no excuse, but with all the Senior Partners stuff going on, I've just been really jumpy lately."

"I guess we both kinda goofed our first impressions, huh?" Dawn sighed, moving to sit on the bed beside him.

"Yeah" said Connor. They both sat moping for a while, until Dawn's face lit up, her mind forming an idea.

"Why don't we just start over? Pretend it never happened."

"Huh?" said Connor, a little confused. Dawn giggled, holding her hand out towards him.

"Hi, I'm Dawn. Dawn Summers, sister of the Slayer."

"Connor Reilly" Connor laughed, shaking Dawn's hand. "Son of an ensouled vampire. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too" Dawn smiled.


	7. What I Need

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

AN: This one takes place after the first arc of 'Dawn's Magical Mishaps', and kind of has an anti-smoking message in it. It wasn't entirely intentional, it just turned out that way. It also includes a fluffy little description of how Sophie got her Fred Mouse.

* * *

Early one morning, Sophie sat watching TV with the volume down low. Mama Tara was in the kitchen making her breakfast, but everybody else was still asleep. During the ad break, the little girl saw something that bothered her quite a bit, and which if Tara had heard the TV, she would have been stopped from seeing. Smoke filling a lung, causing a horrible cough in the person it belonged to. A woman with a diseased mouth, covered in sores. A man with a hole in his throat, unable to speak on his own due to damage to his voice box. More horrible images, followed by a serious voice declaring that these were the things that would happen to you if you smoked. Sophie was frightened. Auntie Faith smoked. She didn't want any of those things to happen to Auntie Faith. She crept up the stairs, quietly sneaking into Buffy and Faith's room (yes, they shared a room now), and making her way over to Faith's bedside table. She stared at the small carton of cigarettes that sat there, then grabbed it, and rushed out of the room.

"You're not gonna hurt my Auntie Faith no more" she said, glaring accusingly at the cigarettes. "If she can't find you, you can't make her sick."

* * *

Later that day, Sophie watched nervously as Faith ransacked the house, searching for the missing cigarettes.

"Has anybody seen my smokes?" the Dark Slayer asked. She was met with a chorus of 'nos' as her reply. She let out an annoyed groan and continued to search. "Damn it!" She yelled a little while later. "Where the hell could they be? I could've sworn I left 'em right on my bedside table, just like I always do!"

"You know" said Buffy, munching on the salad sandwich she had fixed herself for lunch, "Maybe losing them isn't such a bad thing."

"Don't joke with me, B" Faith frowned. She hadn't had a cigarette since the night before, and the nicotine withdrawls she was experiencing made her irritable.

"I'm serious" said Buffy. "Cigarettes are bad for you."

"Oh yeah?" Faith snapped. "Well, so is lettin' a vampire bite you, but you had no problem doin' that!" She regretted the words as soon as they were out of her mouth, but it was too late to take them back. "Oh B, you know I didn't mean that.." Buffy ignored her, setting down her sandwich, getting up, and marching emotionlessly out the front door. "Buffy, wait, I'm sorry! Buffy!" Faith flopped down at the kitchen, groaning to herself. "Idiot! How the hell could I have said that?" Having seen the whole thing, Sophie's lip quivered, then she began to sob, and rushed upstairs, returning soon after with the missing carton of cigarettes.

"Here!" she wailed, throwing it onto the table in front of Faith. "Take them back!"

"Sophie!" scolded Willow, shocked.

"You had 'em, Little Red?" said Faith, surprised. "Why?"

"The TV said smoking would makes you sick" said Sophie, wiping her eyes. "I don't wants you to get sick, Auntie Faith. But I don't wants you and Auntie Buffy to fight, either." Faith frowned, looking at the cigarettes in front of her, then to the abandoned sandwich, and the door which her girlfriend had just stormed out of. Then, she grabbed the cigarettes, stood up, and headed for the door herself.

"Don't worry Little Red, I'm gonna fix everythin', I promise. And you two" she called back to Willow and Tara, "Don't be too hard on the kid, she was only tryin' to help."

* * *

Buffy, being a Slayer, could get away pretty fast when she wanted to, so when Faith eventually caught up with her, she was sitting on a bench in the park. She didn't look up when Faith sat beside her.

"I don't want to talk to you right now."

"You don't have to talk, B" said Faith. "But it would be nice if you wouldn't mind listenin' for a minute."

"Well if you're going to sit right there I don't have much choice, do I?" said Buffy coldly.

"I deserve that" Faith sighed. "Look B, I am so, so, sorry. But you know, all this has got me thinkin', about what I need... and what I don't."

"And?" Buffy looked up, curiosity getting the better of her. Faith pulled the cigarettes out of her pocket and tossed them into the trashcan beside the bench. Then, she pulled Buffy to her and kissed her. Buffy tried to pull away at first, but soon relaxed into the kiss, unable to help herself.

"I need you, Buffy" said Faith when they broke apart. "I love you."

"I love you too" Buffy said with a goofy grin, then shook her head, slapping Faith's hand. "But I'm still mad at you!"

"I know, and you should be" said Faith. "But I was grumpy when I said all that stuff. And the real truth is, I'm kinda happy you let Angel bite you."

"What?" said Buffy, confused. "Why?"

"You saved him, and later, he kinda saved me. So I guess it was all meant to be, you know?"

"That's a good way of looking at it" Buffy smiled. She laid her head against Faith's shoulder, apparently forgetting that she was still supposed to be mad. Then she remembered something. "Um, not that it really matters now, but.. Where did you end up finding the cigarettes?"

"Oh, cute story" Faith grinned. "See, Little Red saw one of those anti-smokin' ads.."

* * *

Later, when they had returned home, Faith entered Sophie's room clutching a small plastic bag, finding the little girl playing tea party with her toys.

"Hey, Little Red" she greeted, seating herself a little uncomfortably in one of the small pink plastic chairs positioned around the small pink plastic table, setting the bag down beside her.

"Hi, Auntie Faith" said Sophie, looking up. "I'm sorry I taked your cigarettes."

"I'm not" said Faith.

"Huh?" said Sophie, confused.

"I don't need them" said Faith. "I don't want to smoke anymore." She rolled up her sleeve, pointing to the patch stuck on her arm. "See this? This is gonna help me stop. And it'll stop me from bein' grumpy while I'm gettin' used to not smokin'."

"Cool!" said Sophie.

"Yeah, except then I had a little problem" said Faith.

"Whats kind of problem?" asked Sophie, worried.

"Well, I needed to find somethin' else to do with the money I used to spend on cigarettes" said Faith, "So this.." She reached into the bag and pulled out a small grey plush-toy mouse, handing it to Sophie, "Is for you, Little Red."

"Thank you, Auntie Faith" Sophie smiled, hugging the mouse before placing it in another one of the empty chairs. "I'm gonna call it Fred!" Faith, knowing of Sophie's sweet habit of naming her toys after their departed friends, chuckled.

"Cool name."


	8. Pyramids?

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

AN: Okay, so this one contains some humour relating to women's menstrual cycle, and a slight mispronunciation on Sophie's part. Enjoy!

* * *

Connor didn't get it. He just didn't get it. Nearly a month had passed since he'd moved into the Scooby household, and things had been going well. At least they had been until the last couple of days. Why was everyone so grumpy? They had him walking on eggshells. Buffy had bitten his head off when he accidentally stood on her toe, Faith had very nearly killed him for eating the last pop tart, he was pretty sure that Willow's eyes had turned black while she'd been yelling at him for leaving the toilet set up, the normally sweet Tara was super irritable, and even Dawn, his new best friend, had easily become snappy with him. Only one other member of the household seemed to have escaped the madness, and he needed that person to give him answers. Yes, she was only three, but he kind of had to take what he could get at the moment.

"Sophie" Connor asked the little girl as she sat watching cartoons, her Tara Bear on the couch beside her, "Um, do you know why everybody's been so grumpy lately?"

"They gots their pyramids" said Sophie.

"Pyramids?" said Connor, confused. "What the hell does that mean?"

"I don't know" said Sophie. "That's just what my Mama Tara telled me when I asked her. She said growed up ladies gets pyramids once a month, and that everybody might be a bit grumpy while they haves it, but nots to worry 'cause they'd all be back to normal in a couple of days. And she said to be extra nice to Auntie Faith when she gots hers, 'cause she gets really bad tummy pains." She pulled Connor to the back door of the house, pointing outside. This was normally the time of day when Buffy and Faith would be outside training, which was exactly what they said they would be doing when they had headed out about half an hour before. Instead, they had both slumped down on the grass, Faith leaning back into Buffy as she let her girlfriend rub comforting circles on her stomach. "See?" said Sophie. Although seeing Faith display any vulnerability at all was slightly unusual, any other resident of the house stumbling upon this scene would have thought it was sweet. Connor, however, being the manly man he was, was automatically conditioned to see anything unusual as frightening, and backed away, bumping into Dawn. He braced himself for a verbal beating, but for now it seemed like she had returned to her normal, bubbly self.

"Hey guys" she said, glancing confusedly between Sophie and Connor. It was only recently that her new friend had become comfortable around the little girl. "What are you two up to?"

"I was just telling Connor that the reason everybody's grumpy is 'cause you've all gots your pyramids" Sophie explained. For a few moments, Dawn looked even more confused. Then, as the information clicked, she collapsed into a fit of riotous laughter.

"I don't see how this is funny" Connor frowned. Now it was his turn to be confused.

"_Periods_, Connor!" Dawn managed to get out between laughs. "We all have our _periods_, not pyramids!"

"Oh" said Connor, his confusion quickly turning to embarrassment.

"Oops" said Sophie, a little embarassed herself.

"It's okay for you" said Dawn, still laughing. "You don't have to worry about it for a long time, but Connor should know better!"

"I do" said Connor quickly, "But, I, uh, thought it would be better for Sophie to learn the truth from a woman."

"Sure you did" Dawn smirked. "Look, I'm sorry if I've been testy with you the last couple of days, but that's just what happens this time of the month. And as for the others.." she rushed into the next room, returning with her purse and shoving some bills into Connor's hand. "I know how you can get back in their good books. Just run to the store and buy a new box of pop tarts, five blocks of chocolate, and a tub of Ben & Jerry's. Go man, go!" Connor nodded and rushed off out the front door, Dawn laughing as he went. Sophie was still a little confused, but shrugged, returning to the couch and pulling Tara Bear into her lap.

"Growed up people are weird sometimes" she said to the bear. "I'm glad I don't have to be one for a long time."


	9. Regular Honeymoon Activities

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

AN: Just a bit of fluff about Willow and Tara on their honeymoon :)

* * *

It was early morning on the day after Willow and Tara's wedding, and the newly married couple lay together in bed, kissing lazily.

"I love you, Mrs Rosenberg" Willow whispered between kisses.

"I love you too, Mrs Rosenberg" Tara whispered back, giggling. They continued to kiss, until somebody knocked at the door.

"Oh, come on!" said Willow, annoyed. "Who disturbs people this early on the first day of their honeymoon?"

"Well, you were the one who said you wanted room service to bring breakfast" said Tara, climbing out of bed and slipping on a robe in order to answer the door.

"Oh yeah, that" Willow blushed, embarassed. Tara chuckled, leaning in to give her new wife a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I'll be right back."

"You better be" Willow grinned, staring after Tara as she left. Her gaze soon moved to the small gold Wedding band in it's new position on her ring finger. She could hardly believe it. Not too long ago, she had thought that she'd never see Tara again. Now they were together, married, and the parents of an amazing little girl. Yes, life was just about perfect, and Willow wouldn't change one bit of it. Well, eventually she did want to work on giving Sophie that baby sister they'd all seen in their dreams, but that could wait, at least for a little while. She sighed happily, then her cellphone rang, and she rolled over, reaching to the bedside table to retrieve it. "Hello?"

_"Hi, Mommy Willow!"_

"Oh, hi sweetie!" Willow greeted, feeling her face light up at the sound of her daughter's voice. "How are you?"

_"Good, but I miss you and Mama Tara"_ said Sophie. _"Auntie Buffy said I should wait 'til later to call, but.."_

"No, it's okay" said Willow. "We miss you too, and we told you that you can call us anytime, remember?" Tara returned carrying a tray of food, smiling when Willow put the phone on speaker to show her who was on the other end of the line.

_"I know. Auntie Faith 'membered too, so she gived me the phone"_ There was a pause, accompanied by the murmur of another voice, before Sophie spoke again. _"She wants to know if you're having fun."_

"Oh yes, we're definitely having fun" said Willow, flashing a cheeky grin at Tara as she sat back on the bed beside her. Another pause, and more murmurs.

_"She wants to know how much fun."_ A snort of laughter that had obviously come from Faith was heard, followed by Buffy angrily admonishing her, indicating that the meaning behind the Dark Slayer's question was anything but innocent. There was another pause of a few seconds, followed by sudden squealing and giggling. _"Um.. Now Auntie Buffy and Auntie Faith are having a tickle war."_ Willow let out a giggle herself, although this situation was not entirely funny. Buffy and Faith's past tickle wars had almost always ended with some object or other being broken. Tara's slightly more serious look reminded Willow of this.

"You better go try and stop them, Sweetie" she said into the phone. "Call back later so Mama Tara can talk to you, okay?"

_"Okay"_ said Sophie._ "Bye-bye, Mommy Willow."_

"Bye, Sophie. I love you." With that, Willow, hung up. She turned to talk to Tara, only to have a forkful of syrupy pancake shoved into her mouth. Willow half-heartedly glared as her new wife laughed at her, but Tara's laugh was contagious to Willow, even when she was the one being laughed at. Willow picked up a fork of her own, and the newlyweds began to feed each other. When they had finished, Willow leaned over to kiss away a drop of syrup that had run down Tara's chin.

"So" Tara smirked, "What exactly are we planning to do today?"

"Well," said Willow seductively, kissing Tara again and then moving to suck on her earlobe, quickly robbing her of coherent thought, "We can't really go anywhere until Sophie calls back.." she began a trail of kisses down Tara's neck. "She can't call back until she's stopped Buffy and Faith's tickle war, and that might take a while.." Willow reached Tara's shoulder, "So I suggest.." she slipped Tara's robe off, pushing her back onto the bed. "We participate in, uh, 'regular honeymoon activities' until then, what do you say?"

"Y-yeah" said Tara as Willow sucked at her pulse point, her returning stutter having nothing to do with shyness. "Th-that sounds good."


	10. Happy Birthday, Little Red

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

AN: It's Sophie's Birthday! This one takes place after the arc of Dawns

* * *

"I almost don't want to wake her up" said Willow as she and Tara watched their daughter sleeping. "She looks so peaceful."

"I know" Tara smiled. "But we have to, Will. Lots of people downstairs are waiting to see her."

"Are you sure we're doing the right thing here?" asked Willow suddenly.

"What do you mean?" said Tara, confused.

"You know, celebrating Sophie's Birthday, when we really have no idea when her birthday actually is."

"Willow" Tara chuckled, shaking her head. "You worry too much. Sophie doesn't care that we don't know when her real Birthday is. _She_ doesn't even know."

"But we should!" Willow cried. "We're her parents, Tara! We should know!"

"Oh baby, don't cry" said Tara, pulling her wife into her arms as she began to sob. She glanced anxiously over at Sophie, who, thankfully, was still asleep. "You're right. In an ideal world, we would know exactly when Sophie was born. Those demons took three years of her life away from us, and we can't get them back. But today's not about that."

"It's not?" Willow sniffled.

"No" said Tara. "We can't let it be, or they win. So, think of today as celebrating that Sophie _was_ born, rather than _when_ she was born, okay?"

"Okay" said Willow, wiping her eyes.

"And I know it doesn't make up for it at all, but.." Tara grinned, laying Willow's hand over her tiny baby bump. She was almost three months along now. "We'll definitely know when this one comes along."

"Yeah" Willow smiled.

"Mommy Willow?" Sophie woke, yawning, and rubbing sleep from her eyes. "You've been crying" she frowned, seeing the tear tracks down her Mother's cheeks. "Why were you crying?"

"Nevermind Sweetie, I was just being silly" said Willow, the little girl into her arms.

"But you telled me that if something worries you enough to makes you cry, it's never silly" said Sophie, confused.

"And that's still right, most of the time. But.." Willow frowned, thinking. Sometimes her daughter was entirely too intelligent for her own good. She looked to Tara for some kind of support, but she was staying out of it. As much as Tara hated seeing her wife upset or uncomfortable in any situation, the issue here was Willow's, and she needed to let her deal with it herself. "You remember what today is, don't you?" Willow sighed, turning her attention back to Sophie.

"Uh-huh. It's the day you saved me from the demons in the park!" Sophie grinned. "That's why we choosed it to be my Birthday! And I'm.." she paused, counting the appropriate number of fingers before holding them up proudly. "Four years old!"

"Well," Willow sighed again, "The reason I was crying was because I was worried that you might be sad that we don't know when your real Birthday is."

"Oh. That is a little silly, Mommy Willow" said Sophie. "How could I be sad that you don'ts know if I don'ts know?" Tara, unseen by Sophie, playfully poked her tongue out at Willow, giving her wife an 'I told you so' look. Willow shot her a completely non-threatening glare, then turned back to Sophie again.

"I know it's silly now, Sweetie" she said, "But sometimes.. well, sometimes Mommies worry a lot about things that could upset their babies, because.. um.. well.."

"Because they want to protect them" Tara finally cut in.

"Yeah" Willow nodded, "What your Mama Tara said."

"Well," Tara grinned, "Now that we have all that sorted out.."

* * *

"Happy Birthday!" a chorus of voices cheered when Willow carried Sophie downstairs. Aside from the people who lived in the house, Xander had taken the day off work so he could be present for the all-day celebrations that Willow had planned, and Giles and Andrew had been able to find time in their busy schedule to make the trip over from England, and had been staying at Xander's apartment in order to keep their arrival a surprise.

"Hi, everybody!" Sophie greeted happily, running to hug everyone after Willow put her down. Then, they all gathered around to watch the little girl open her presents. Giles gave her a bunch of picture books. Dawn gave her her first Barbie doll, joining her present with Buffy who bought clothes and accessories for said doll, and Connor, who she had talked into buying a Ken doll to match it. Xander gave her a few dress-up costumes. Faith had bought the little girl her own DVD copy of 'Beauty & The Beast' to save them from having to rent it every weekend as they had been doing for a few months now. Sophie was thrilled. "Thank you, Auntie Faith!" she cried happily, throwing her arms around the Dark Slayer. "Now we can watch it together all the time!"

"Great" said Faith a little sarcastically, but seeing how happy she had made Sophie meant she couldn't stay that way for long, and she soon smiled, hugging her back. "That's great, Little Red. I'm glad you like your present." From her parents, Sophie received almost more gifts than it was possible to count, and would have got even more if Willow had had her way. Tara had only managed to stop her with the argument that they would run out of present ideas for Christmas.

After all the presents had been opened, the gang played party games. First they played 'Pin The Tail On The Donkey', which Sophie won, thanks to Faith 'accidentally' bumping her hand into exactly the right position. Then they played 'Pass The Parcel' which Sophie also won due to Willow both having wrapped the parcel and being in charge of the music. They stopped to have lunch and eat the Birthday cake Tara had baked.

* * *

The rest of the day, right through into the night, continued in much the same way. They played some games, stopped for a snack, then played some more, all of which Sophie coincidentally won. Later that night, after the festivities had begun dying down, Faith came across Willow, Tara, and Sophie all snuggled together asleep, each one of them with a hand resting protectively over Tara's stomach. The Dark Slayer gave a small smile, then draped a blanket over the three of them, and dropped a kiss to Sophie's forehead.

"Happy Birthday, Little Red."


	11. The Anniversary

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

AN: Time for an anniversary!

* * *

Late one night after returning from patrol, an exhausted Buffy crept quietly into her bedroom, not wanting to disturb Faith who had stayed home because she wasn't feeling well. She changed into her pyjamas and flopped onto the bed, wincing when the bedsprings creaked slightly, and Faith stirred.

"B?" she whispered sleepily, rolling over to face her girlfriend.

"Yeah, it's me" Buffy sighed. "Sorry I woke you up."

"It's okay" said Faith. "I was half awake waitin' for you anyway. I don't like you havin' to go out on your own."

"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, Faith" Buffy smiled, reaching over to feel the Dark Slayer's forehead. "What about you? Are you feeling any better?"

"A little, now" Faith grinned, snuggling closer to her girlfriend.

"Good" said Buffy, gently stroking Faith's hair. "Try to sleep in a little tomorrow, okay? Slayer or not, you shouldn't push yourself too hard when you're sick."

"Okay, I won't" Faith laughed.

"I'm serious" Buffy frowned. "I put myself in hospital once by going out Slaying when I was sick. Promise me you won't do anything stupid."

"B.." Faith chuckled.

"It's not funny" Buffy frowned. "I won't be here to keep an eye on you tomorrow 'cause Xander's broke his arm at work and I've got to go help him out, so you have to promise."

"Alright, B. I promise."

"You better keep that promise too, 'cause I can check with Willow and Tara.."

"Okay, okay, I'll keep my promise!"

"Good" Buffy yawned, her eyes beginning to drift shut. "Night, Faith. Love you."

"Love you too, B" Faith whispered. "Goodnight." After her girlfriend had drifted off to sleep, the Dark Slayer smiled to herself. Truth be told, she wasn't really sick at all. And no, she hadn't faked it just to get out of patrolling for a night. The real truth was that tomorrow was a very special milestone for them, and she had needed to get Buffy out of the house for a while so she could finalise some plans she had for them. She'd needed to have Buffy gone tommorow too, which was why Xander had 'broken' his arm. It was Willow's Birthday the next day, so she, Tara, and Sophie would be out that night too, and Dawn and Connor were going to the movies, so they wouldn't get in the Slayers' way. Faith's smile widened a little. Yep, everything was going to be perfect.

* * *

So, the next day, after making Faith repeat her promise to stay in bed one more time, Buffy headed off to Xander's house. There, she helped him out with a countless number of manual chores that that had suddenly needed doing at exactly the time he had gone and broken his arm, such as rearranging his sofa and television, pulling out his fridge to sweep behind it, and removing forgotten, expired items from the depths of said fridge. Then, Buffy did Xander's laundry and washed his dirty dishes so he didn't have to risk getting his cast wet. Later, just as it was beginning to get dark, the pair headed off grocery shopping in order to take advantage of closing time specials. Xander was glad that the day was almost over, as he didn't like decieving his friend. Still, he had done a surprisingly good job at keeping the truth from her, at least until he absentmindedly picked up a heavy grocery bag with his supposedly broken arm.

"Xander!" Buffy cried.

"What?" said Xander, before quickly catching on and dropping the bag. "Oh. Oh, ow!"

"Don't give me that, Xand" said Buffy, glaring at him. "You were faking!"

"I just had a delayed reaction to the pain!" Xander cried. "I'm not faking.. well, okay maybe I am.. but.. but.. Faith made me do it!"

"What?" Buffy frowned. "Why?"

"She didn't tell me why exactly" said Xander, "She just said she needed my help, and you know how I am with girls needing my help.. Hey, where are you going?" he yelled as Buffy marched off to her car.

"Home" Buffy yelled back. "I'm getting to the bottom of this!"

"But you can't!" Xander panicked. "Come on Buff, come back, please? Buffy!" He groaned, slapping his forehead. Faith was going to kill him.

* * *

Buffy arrived home, only to find that she had forgotten her house keys.

"Faith!" she yelled, beating on the door. "Faith, let me in!"

"Shit" Faith groaned, from the kitchen where she was dealing with a pot of boiling water, and a pan of pasta sauce.

"Faith!"

"Comin'!" Faith called as she ran to the door, mumbling to herself. "I am so going to kill Xander.." She pulled open the door to find an unimpressed Buffy staring at her. "Hey B, what's up?"

"That's what I'd like to know" Buffy frowned.

"Well.." Faith looked back into the kitchen, seeing her pot of water boiling over. "Shit!" she yelled again. She rushed over and grabbed the pot to move it off the heat, but some of the hot water splashed out onto her hand, causing her to cry out and send the pot crashing to the floor. Buffy, once again forgetting that she was still kind of mad, rushed to her girlfriend's aid.

"Quick" she said, leading her over to the sink, "Run cold water over it." As Faith did so, Buffy's eyes skimmed over the kitchen, seeing the pasta sauce, water that was now spreading over the floor, and widening when they registered the candles and vase of flowers that had been set out on the table. "What's all this for?"

"What do ya think it's for?" Faith snapped, then, remembering that it was Xander she was mad at, not Buffy, quickly calmed down, sighing. "I heard you tellin' Red that you didn't mention our one-year anniversary to me because you worried that I'd freak out or somethin', so I wanted to surprise ya and prove I wouldn't.."

"And I ruined it by coming home early" Buffy finished. "Oh Faith, I'm sorry."

"Blame Xander" Faith smirked, "I do." Buffy let out a chuckle, and Faith frowned. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing" said Buffy, trying not to laugh. "It's just.. wouldn't there have been a better way to get rid of me for the day other than Xander pretending to break an arm?"

"Hey, go easy B" said Faith, a little embarassed. "I am still kinda new at the whole couple thing, even if I have been doin' it for a year now.

"Yeah.. You're really not scared about that?"

"Nah" said Faith, shaking her head. "I'm proud of it."

"Yeah" Buffy grinned, pulling her in for a kiss, "Me too."

* * *

"I don't gets it" said Sophie, confused, one hand clinging to each of her Mother's as they left the restauraunt they had been to. "Why do we have to stay at Uncle Xander's? Why aren't we going home?"

"We'll tell you when you're older" said Willow and Tara in unison, smirking.


	12. How To Avoid Your Wife's Ex Girlfriend

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

AN: This one takes place a few days after the final arc of 'Dawn's Magical Mishaps', and everyone is still at the Slayer School in England.

* * *

A few days had gone by since the end of the Scooby's time travel adventure. Rather than go home straight away, they decided that their appearance in England was a nice chance to have a holiday, and Giles was happy to have them. In particular, he was pleased that he would finally be able to spend a significant amount of time with Sophie, and really get to know the daughter of two wonderful young women whom he liked to think of as his own daughters. Sophie was more than happy to oblige, therefore Willow and Tara saw little of their daughter in the coming days. They didn't mind much, because although they loved their daughter dearly, it was nice to get a little time to themselves once in a while.

Unfortunately, on the day before the Scoobies were due to leave England, Tara discovered why it may not have been such a good idea for them to stay at the Slayer School. She and Willow were packing their bags with the few belongings Cordy had 'power-that-be'd' over to them, and Tara had decided to go check the rooms of the school for any items they or Sophie may have left there. It was while doing this that she came across Willow's ex-girlfriend, Kennedy, roaming the halls. Luckily though, she hadn't seen Tara, which gave the blonde time to speed back around the corner she had just turned, and ducked into the first door she found, which happened to lead to Buffy and Faith's room. Faith had been sitting on the bed reading a book at the time, and started at Tara's sudden appearance.

"Geez, Blondie" she cried, "You tryin' to give me a heart attack or somethin'?"

"Sorry" Tara panted, "But I just saw Kennedy in the hall, and I was trying to get away from her."

"Kennedy?" said Faith, surprised. "Damn, I forgot she'd be here."

"Me too" said Tara. "So, do you mind if I stay in here and hang out with you for a while until I'm sure she's gone?"

"Sure" said Faith, a little awkwardly. With her panic-fueled outburst over, she suddenly became very quiet and withdrawn, as she had been for the last couple of days. The truth was, Faith had been trying to avoid Tara, mostly due to the uneccessary guilt she felt over Tara's injury, believing that her younger self was to blame no matter how much Buffy or anybody else tried to convince her otherwise. Tara had a feeling that this might have been the problem, so she remained silent, not rying to force Faith to talk. Eventually, however, the silence became a little too awkward, and she just had to break it.

"What are you reading?" she asked, sitting on the end of the bed.

"Nothin'" said Faith embarrassed, quickly shoving the book behind her back. If she had not done that, Tara may have left her alone, but now she was curious.

"Come on" she teased, playfully nudging the Dark Slayer's arm. "Show me."

"No. It's embarrassin'."

"Alright then" Tara sighed, standing up. "If you won't show me, I'll just go find Sophie. I know you can never say no to her.."

"Blondie, wait!" Faith called after her. Tara sat back down, grinning, while Faith glared at her. "You know Blondie, you're not as sweet and innocent as you look."

"Willow could have told you that" Tara smirked.

"Very funny" Faith frowned, pulling the book out and handing it to Tara. "Here."

"_The Complete Guide To Disney_?" Tara frowned, looking puzzled.

"Go ahead, laugh" said Faith. "I know ya want to."

"To tell you the truth, this confuses me more than it makes me want to laugh" said Tara. "I mean, this isn't exactly the type ofr thing I'd envision you reading."

"Yeah.. well, I thought it would be easier for me to explain to Little Red what's goin' on in all those disney movies she watches if I actually knew what was goin' on."

"You know," Tara chuckled, "You could have done that just as easily by just watching the movies."

"Watchin' 'em by myself would be even more embarrassin' than readin' the damn book" Faith frowned.

"Who said you'd have to watch them yourself?" said Tara. "I'd watch them with you."

"Really?" said Faith, raising an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Why not?" Tara shrugged. "It's nice to get in touch with your inner child sometimes. Besides" she smiled, rubbing her very slightly swelling stomach, "If we're going to have two little girls running around soon, we're probably all going to have to get very used to the Disney Princesses."

"So you're sure the baby's gonna be a girl then?" Faith grinned. She had completely forgotten about her awkwardness by now. Tara had a special way of making people feel at ease, without anyone really realising she'd done it.

"Sophie seems to think so" Tara replied, "And given her track record with predictions, I'm kind of inclined to believe her." She paused and looked at her watch, frowning. "Willow'll be starting to wonder where I am.."

"I'll take you back" said Faith, standing up. "Kennedy's probably gone by now anyway, but just in case.."

"Yeah, thanks" Tara smiled. The pair headed off together, making it down two hallways before they spotted Kennedy coming out of a bathroom. "Uh-oh" said Tara, panicking a little. Faith frowned, then turned to Tara.

"Do ya trust me, Blondie?"

"Um.. yeah" Tara replied, although she was a little confused, and just a tiny bit frightened by the question. "Why?"

"Get on my back" said Faith, bending her knees a little to make things easier for Tara.

"What?"

"Just do it Blondie, and hang on tight!"

"Okay.." said Tara, still confused, as she obeyed Faith's instructions. As soon as the wicca was safely hanging on, The Dark Slayer ran like a mad thing in the opposite direction to the one Kennedy had just been heading in. "Uh, isn't this just a little unneccessary?" asked Tara. "I mean, running into Kennedy would be awkward, but.."

"Blondie, Kennedy is a completely selfish, spoilt, insufferable brat" said Faith as she ran. "And you're not her favourite person in the world. Havin' her girlfriend break up with her 'cause she was still in love with a dead chick can't have been good for that big ego of hers. She'd probably try to punch you out if she saw ya, so we need to put as much space between you and her as possible. It's easier this way, I can run a heck of a lot faster than you can."

"That makes sense, I guess" said Tara. "Just don't drop me. I am carrying some pretty precious cargo myself at the moment."

"Don't worry Blondie, I won't drop ya" Faith chuckled. "Red'd kill me."

"That she would" Tara laughed.

Eventually, Faith did manage to get Tara back to Willow, all in one piece. They'd taken a much longer route than neccessary to get there, but Tara didn't mind. She'd had too much fun.


	13. Grandpa Giles

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

AN: This one takes place both just before, and a little bit during, the last one, focusing on Sophie and Giles' bonding time.

* * *

Sophie walked through the grounds of the Slayer School with Giles, clinging to his hand. England was beautiful this time of year. It was the middle of Spring, the trees all beautifully green, and the flowers in full bloom.

"Mister Giles, you've knowed my Mommies for a long time, haven't you?" Sophie asked.

"Yes, I have" Giles replied, smiling.

"Do you know what they was like when they were my age?"

"Not quite that long" Giles chuckled.

"How long then?" Sophie asked.

"Well, I've known you're Mommy Willow since just before she turned sixteen, and your Mama Tara since she was nineteen. I have Some photos, we could take a look at them later, if you'd like."

"Yeah, I'd really, really, like that!" Sophie grinned. "Thank you, Mister Giles!"

"It's no problem, really. And Sophie dear.."

"Yes?"

"You don't have to call me Mr. Giles, you know."

"What should I call you then?" asked Sophie, confused.

"Well, you could just call me Giles like your Mothers, or Rupert if you'd prefer.."

"Can I call you Grandpa?"

"What?" said Giles, taken aback.

"You don't have to let me" said Sophie quickly, blushing. "But a Grandpa is supposed to be your family, and your family is supposed to be peoples that loves you. Mommy Willow's Daddy hasn't talked to her in a real long time 'cause he doesn't like Mama Tara, but if he really loved her as much as Daddies are 'sposed to love their Little girls then he would have tried to like Mama Tara." Giles didn't think Willow's Father's problem had been with Tara herself as much as the change in Willow's sexuality that she represented, but he didn't interrupt, and let Sophie continue. "And Mama Tara's Daddy couldn't have ever really loved her if he kept hurting her so bad all the time." On this point, Giles wholeheartedly agreed, though was still a little surprised, but he supposed he shouldn't have been. The last few days had taught him that Sophie often showed a level of intelligence far beyond her tender years. "Mommy Willow telled me that you was like everybody's Daddy once" the little girl continued. "I think you're a better Daddy than my Mommies' Daddies, and you're more a part of our family than my Mommies Daddies, so I'd think you'd be a better Grandpa.. but it's okay, I can just call you Giles."

"Sophie" Giles smiled, scooping the little girl into his arms, "I am honoured that you think that highly of me. And I would be honoured if you would call me Grandpa."

"What's honoured mean?"

"Very happy" said Giles with a chuckle.

"That's good" Sophie smiled.

* * *

A little later, Giles sat in his office with Sophie in his lap, flipping through a photo album that Willow, the salvager of all photos and sentimental items when Sunnydale fell, had made up for him when he'd left for England to start the Slayer School.

"Ah, here we are" Giles smiled, finger resting on the edge of a picture showing himself and the young Willow. "This photo was taken sometime after your Auntie Buffy moved to Sunnydale. I knew your Mommy Willow before that, but that was when we started getting close. She used to keep this photo in her locker.." Giles frowned, suddenly wondering why Willow would ever have kept a photo of him in her locker, but he was quickly distracted when Faith suddenly ran past the office, carrying Tara on her back. He stood, Sophie in his arms, and walked over to the door to stare confusedly after them as they rushed down the hallway and rounded the corner, both giggling madly.

"What are they doing, Grandpa Giles?" asked Sophie, puzzled.

"Sophie dear" Giles sighed, moving back to his seat, "There are times in life when it is best not to ask too many questions. I Believe this is one of those times."


	14. Secret Photos

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

AN: Tara finds some photo albums from Willow's childhood, and Willow tries to stop her wife from looking at what she believes are her most embarrassing pictures. As it turns out, Tara has some secret photos of her own..

* * *

"Willow" Tara asked one day as they sat side by side folding Sophie's freshly washed clothes, "Do we have any photos of you when you were younger?"

"No" said Willow a little too quickly, the slight squeak in her voice acting as another indicator that she may not have been being entirely truthful. "Why do you ask, baby?"

"Well" said Tara as she rubbed her now seven-months pregnant belly, smiling when her unborn daughter kicked, "I thought it might be nice to look at some pictures to try and guess what the baby might look like." She used 'the baby' instead of 'Lily' because Faith was sitting nearby playing with Sophie, and Echo, the border collie pup that Buffy had given her girlfriend for Christmas two weeks before. They didn't want any of the other Scoobies to know the baby's name until she was born.

"Yeah, that could have been fun" said Willow with a nervous chuckle, standing up. "I, uh, better go start checking that the house is baby-proofed properly."

"You've done that already" Tara frowned. "Actually, you finished doing it the week after you found out I was pregnant."

"Oh I know, but you can never be too careful with babies" said Willow as she left. "You wouldn't believe some of the messes they get themselves into. See you later, Sweetie!" Tara glared suspiciously after her wife as she disappeared upstairs, until Faith approached her.

"I couldn't help overhearin' your conversation there Blondie, and seein' as we're sisters now I figure I'd better tell you somethin'."

"What?" asked Tara, curious.

"Well, when the Scoobs first moved here after Sunny D fell, Red had this box she didn't want anyone to look in.."

* * *

A little while later, Tara carefully climbed the stepladder into the attic, and after some searching, located the box that Faith had told her about. And, as Tara had hoped, the box contained a stack of old photo albums. The albums were dated, so Tara cleared herself a place on the dusty floor, sat down, and opened the first one. She couldn't help but smile. The first few pages were filled with photos of the newborn baby Willow. She continued on to see pictures of her infant wife smiling, laughing, beginning to sit up, having her face covered in various pureed foods, and taking her earliest steps.

"Your Mommy Willow was a beautiful baby, wasn't she Lily?" Tara whispered to the little girl growing inside her womb. "Maybe if we're lucky, you'll look just like her." She pulled out the next album, filled with more pictures of Willow growing up, including a few of a two-year old Willow potty training, which made Tara giggle. She continued to flip through the pictures, eventually reaching the last page, which contained pictures of a five-year old Willow, dressed in cute little overalls, playing in a sandbox with Xander at the same age. She closed it and took the next one, when the main subject of the photos appeared at the top of the stepladder.

"Oh no you don't!" Willow cried, springing into the attic and snatching the album from her wife.

"Hey!" snapped Tara, annoyed. "What was that for?"

"I know some of those are kinda cute" said Willow, pointing to the pile of albums that Tara had already seen, "But this one is after kindergarten, and after kindergarten I became a dork. I'm sorry, but these pictures are much too embarrassing for me to let you lay eyes on."

"Okay" Tara sighed, "If it worries you that much I won't look."

"Thank you" said Willow, relaxing a little.

"Come here" Tara grinned. She pulled her wife down beside her, kissing her. Willow, distracted now, dropped the photo album. Tara picked it up and pulled away, smirking.

"No fair!" cried Willow, pouting, when she realised what had happened. She made a grab for the album, but Tara held it just out of her reach. "You know you're not supposed to use smoochies against me!"

"Yeah, but you should know that I can play pretty dirty when I want to" Tara grinned. Willow frowned, then made another unsuccessful grab for the photo album.

"Just give it back, Tara!"

"I don't think so, Sweetie."

"It doesn't belong to you!"

"We're married, Will" Tara laughed, amused that their first real argument as a married couple was over an old photo album. "So technically, half of it does."

"It's not funny!" Willow snapped, lunging for the album. In the short struggle that followed, the redhead ended up on her back with Tara hovering over her, smirking again.

"Pinned ya" she chuckled, cheekily referencing the Lion King inspired bedtime story she had once told Sophie, while still holding the photo album just out of her wife's reach. Of course in that moment, Willow had completely forgotten why she was annoyed at her. The sunlight filtering through the attic's single window hit Tara's hair, making it shimmer. Now Willow, rather than staying mad, couldn't help thinking how beautiful her wife was. She knew that pregnant women were supposed to glow, but she didn't think anyone else could possibly glow as much as Tara did. She could hardly believe that seven months had already gone by since Dawn had cast the unintentional spell that had allowed her to get Tara pregnant, and could believe even less that it would only be two more months before they welcomed their second child into the world. But most of all, she reminded herself just how lucky she was to have Tara in her life at all. A few loose strands of hair had fallen into the blonde's face, so Willow reached up to gently brush them back behind her ear.

"I love you" she whispered.

"I love you too" Tara smiled, then gasped, jerking the album further out of Willow's reach. "But you're still not getting this back!" Since so few people had said it to her in her younger years, the words 'I love you' had a very powerful affect on her, but if this was a trick Tara wasn't going to fall for it.

"I kinda figured that" Willow sighed. "If you really want to, I guess you can look. It's not like you're going to stop loving me over a few embarrassing photos.. right?"

"Never" Tara grinned. She moved to let Willow up, then sat and opened the photo album. The first half was mostly Willow in her first few years of school, one or two with small gaps in her smile where she had started losing baby teeth, including one with her and Xander with exactly the same tooth missing. Tara thought these pictures were cute, and while Willow was mildly embarrassed by them, these were not the ones that really bothered her. No, the pictures that Willow was worried about were the ones of her from about age ten onwards. When Tara reached them, Willow covered her eyes.

"Well, are you embarassed that you married someone who used to be such a dork?"

"I don't see a dork" said Tara. Willow peeked out between her fingers.

"You don't?"

"No" Tara smiled, pulling Willow's hand away from her face and beckoning her to come closer. "Want to know what I do see? I see Willow-hands, and Willow-eyes, and Willow-nose, and a Willow-smile.. I just see Willow, really. Not quite the full adult Willow package yet, but Willow just the same. And you know what else?"

"What?" said Willow, now smiling herself.

"I think" Tara grinned, giving her wife a quick peck on the cheek, "That Willow is absolutely adorable , no matter what age she is."

"I guess when you put it that way, the pictures aren't that bad" said Willow, blushing a little. Then she sighed, laying her head on her soulmate's shoulder. "It's a shame we don't have any pictures of you." It was now Tara's turn to feel awkward. She remained silent for a while, just sitting and stroking Willow's hair, until she thought about how uncomfortable the redhead had been about her own photos, and decided that she deserved the truth.

"Actually" she said finally, "We do."

* * *

A few minutes later, the wiccas were in their bedroom. Willow sat on the bed, waiting, while Tara searched through the closet for the box of her belongings that Willow had salvaged when the Scoobies closed the Sunnydale Hellmouth. The box was almost empty now, as Tara had reclaimed most of it's contents after her resurrection, but she had left a few things hidden inside it. One of these things was another smaller box, in which Tara kept some of her Mother's things, mostly things that she hadn't wanted her Father to find. She carried it over to the bed and sat down beside Willow before opening it. Inside were Tara's Mother's wedding and engagement rings, notebook with pressed flowers through it's pages, one or two pouches of magical herbs, a small bottle of perfume, and, tucked into the corner, a small stack of photos. Tara smiled softly as she pulled each item out, showing them to Willow.

"I had to hide Mom's rings after she died, 'cause my Father wanted to sell them" Tara explained, dropping the rings into Willow's hand, before pulling out the notebook and gently turning the pages. "Mom loved flowers too. But my Father never got her any, so sometimes I'd sneak her some from our garden. She used to press them in here because she said she wanted to keep them forever.. And those" she continued, indicating the pouches of herbs, "Well, those are pretty self-explanatory. The perfume probably isn't any good now, I just couldn't bring myself to get rid of anything of Mom's. And these.." she hesitated as she finally reached the photos, before handing them to Willow, "Were my Mom's favourite pictures of me. I never really liked them, but then I never really liked any pictures of myself, because I never thought of myself as beau.. nevermind." Willow frowned at her wife's words, then looked through the photos, featuring Tara from a newborn through to about thirteen.

"Tara" she asked, deciding a point needed to be proven here, "Who is the most beautiful person in the world to you?"

"You."

"Other than me" Willow smirked.

"Oh. Then Sophie."

"Exactly. And who does Sophie look like?"

"Um.. us?"

"_You_" Willow corrected. "There's a few bits of me in there, but she mostly looks like you. So, one of the people who you think is the most beautiful in the world looks like you. So shouldn't you think of yourself as beautiful too?"

"I guess that kinda makes sense.." said Tara.

"Good" Willow grinned, "But one more question. Who do you think is the most beautiful person in the world to me?"

"Sophie."

"Other than Sophie" Willow chuckled. Tara blushed, letting a curtain of hair fall into her face just as she had done when she was younger.

"Me."

"Yep" Willow beamed, brushing the hair away and pulling her wife into a kiss, "And I'm never gonna let you forget it."


	15. Puppy Love

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

AN: Faith is housetraining Echo..

* * *

"God damn it!" came the Dark Slayer's voice from somewhere in the house.

"What's up with Faith?" Willow asked. She was sitting on the couch with Tara's feet in her lap, massaging her wife's ankles which had become swollen, as ankles were prone to do during later pregnancy.

"I thinks Echo had another accident" said Sophie, who sat playing nearby.

"She has been having a little bit of trouble getting him housetrained" said Tara.

* * *

"How many times do I have to tell ya?" Faith growled once she had carried Echo into the backyard and set him down on the grass. "You do your buisness outside!" Echo just yipped at her, innocently cocking his head as if to say he had no idea what she was talking about. "Oh no, don't you give me that sweet and innocent look" Faith frowned, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at the pup. "I'm still mad at you!" As his owner continued to glare, Echo whimpered, bowing his head for a second, before looking back up at her with wide, sad eyes. "No, not the eyes, don't give me the eyes! It won't work, it may have worked last time but it's not.." At that moment, Echo jumped up on his back feet and licked Faith's hand, and she melted, unable to help herself. She picked the puppy up, sighing. "You are way too adorable for your own good, you know that?"

"Now you know how I felt when you pulled the puppy dog eyes on me as a wolf."

"Not funny, B" Faith frowned, turning to see her girlfriend standing in the doorway, smirking. "Could you imagine any demons seein' this? The supposedly Dark Slayer who turns into a big ol' softie around kids and puppies?"

"It actually sounds kinda like the plot of a heart warming kid's movie" Buffy chuckled. Faith glared at her. "Aww.." Buffy moved to hug her girlfriend, so Faith shifted Echo a little to keep Buffy from squishing him. "Don't get grumpy, baby. I love that you love kids and puppies. And who cares if the demons laugh? Loving things, or people, isn't a weakness, Faith. I know a lot of bad guys would try to use it against you, but really, love is a strength, because it gives you something to fight for."

"Yeah, yeah, I know all that, B" said Faith, hugging her girlfriend back with her free arm. "And I really do believe it all too, which is kinda new for me.. The truth is, though, I was just kinda annoyed that Echo got me to forgive him so fast after he crapped in my shoe."

"Really?" said Buffy, nose wrinkling. "Your shoe?"

"Yes B, my shoe."

"Aww, but he's so cute!" said Buffy, gazing at the puppy nestled in the crook of her girlfriend's other arm, trying to look innocent.

"That's the problem" Faith frowned, before mymbling under her breath, "That and I just love the little furball to damn much.."

* * *

The next morning, thankfully Faith actually made some progress. She was woken by Echo licking and pawing at her face.

"Okay, okay, I'm up" she groaned, moving carefully so as not to wake the sleeping Buffy beside her, before turning to look at the pup. "What do you want?" Echo yipped, jumping off the bed and running out of the room, as if he wanted his owner to follow. Faith, sighing, got out of bed and did so. She found the puppy scratching at the backdoor, so she opened it to let him out. Echo ran outside, sniffed around a little, then did his business and ran back to Faith, yipping and wagging his tail. "Good boy" the Dark Slayer smiled, bending down to stroke him. "Good boy."


	16. The Baby Shower

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

AN: Time for Tara's baby shower!

* * *

"There's our baby girl" Tara, now nearing the end of her eighth month of pregnancy, smiled her lopsided smile as she gazed at the small black and white print-out clutched in her hand. She and Willow had just returned from their final ultrasound appointment, and Tara, pregnancy hormones having taken a firm grip, was now affected by the sight of her soon-to-be-born daughter, and the sound of her heartbeat, in much the same way Willow had been after the first ultrasound. This basically meant that she would continue to gush over the ultrasound photo for at least the next couple of days, and that her mind was full of baby twenty four-seven. "She really does look like a baby now, doesn't she? See her little arms, and little legs, and.."

"Yeah, I see" Willow chuckled, a little nervously. Willow's mind was mostly full of baby too, but at that time, the redhead had managed to make a little room for something that, while still baby related, was not the baby herself. Of course, this particular thing was supposed to be a surprise, therefore Willow had had to keep it a secret, and as we all know, Willow wasn't the greatest at keeping secrets, least of all from Tara. She had however, been keeping this secret for nearly three weeks now, which was a pretty good run for her, but thankfully, Tara's surprise was about to be revealed, meaning that Willow wouldn't have to worry about it anymore, provided, of course, that she had kept Tara away this morning long enough for Faith, the creator of the surprise, to make her final arrangements.

"She's beautiful, isn't she Will?" said Tara, unable to tear her eyes away from the picture as they walked inside, clinging to it with one hand while the other rested on her now huge baby belly.

"Yeah" said Willow as she glanced around, hoping that she had given Faith enough time to prepare, and paying particular attention to whether or not all the blinds were closed. She needn't have worried.

"SURPRISE!" came a chorus of familiar voices as they entered the lounge room, the roof of which was currently covered with pink helium-filled balloons, some plain, some emblazoned with cute pictures and 'It's A Girl!' slogans.

"Welcome to your baby shower, T" Faith grinned. "I figured that since I'm your sister now, it's kinda my job to organise this kinda stuff for ya, so I did. And I know dudes don't traditionally come to these things, but you know how Xander gets when we don't invite him to stuff, and Angel, well, he just loves babies for some reason, and he already had presents.." Angel, who stood nearby with a wide grin that was just a little creepy, held up a small stack of parcels as if to support Faith's explanation. "And once I'd invited Angel, Spike had to come.."

"I'm just here for the booze" said Spike.

"Spike, this is a baby shower" Buffy frowned. "There is no booze."

"That's okay, Slayer, I brought me own" Spike reached into a bag he had brought with him, pulled out a can of beer and cracked it open. But, as he prepared to take a sip, Illyria snatched it away from him. "Hey, Big Blue, give that back!"

"No. You have informed me in the past that it is unwise to consume beverages containing the substance alcohol before operating a motor vehicle" said Illyria. "I cannot yet operate a motor vehicle, so you will be responsible for doing so for at least part of our trip home."

"Uh-huh, and if you drinks and drives, you're a bloody idiot" said Sophie, mimicking a road safety commercial she had once seen.

"But we're not going home for two bloody days!" Spike cried. Illyria cocked her head at him, uncomprehending.

"Bet you wish you explained that one better, huh?" Xander smirked. Spike gave him a death glare.

"Anyway" Faith continued, "If I'd asked all those guys I couldn't leave out Giles and Andrew, and Connor lives here, and with him and Dawn stickin' together like glue he couldn't _not _come, and you know none of us have ever been much into followin' traditions anyway. I mean, there's only supposed to be one Slayer, but B put the kibosh on that one pretty quickly.."

"Yeah, she did" Tara chuckled, giving the Dark Slayer as big of a hug as was possible with her stomach in the way. "Thank you for doing all this Faith, you didn't have to. And as for inviting all the boys, well, thanks for that too, I would have done the same thing myself."

"No problem, T" Faith grinned, hugging her back as well as she could.

"And" Tara continued, turning to Willow and giving her a kiss, "Thank you for keeping this a secret. I know it would have been hard for you."

"Aww, it was nothing" said Willow with a goofy grin. Tara-kisses still had the power of turning her to mush.

* * *

A little later, after she had opened all her guest's presents, Tara was pulled aside by her daughter.

"I gots a present for you too, Mama Tara" Sophie whispered. "Come with me."

"Can't you show me here?" asked Tara, confused, as the little girl dragged her from the room.

"Nope" said Sophie. "We can't let Mommy Willow see it." This confused Tara more, but she allowed her daughter to lead her up the stairs, and down the hall to her bedroom, where she instructed her to sit on the bed, before rummaging around in her draw. "Here they are!" Sophie crawled onto the bed and snuggled up beside her Mother, opening her hand to reveal two shiny emerald green buttons, exactly the shade of Willow's eyes. "You said you were having troubles finding the right coloured eyes for Willow Bear, so I asked Cordelia about it the last time she visited my dreams, and when I woked up this morning, there they were!"

"Thank you Sweetie, they're perfect" she smiled, hugging her daughter before glancing upwards, smirking. "And thank you, Cordy."

"Do you wants to go back downstairs to the party now?"

"Actually, climbing up here kinda tired me out a bit" said Tara. "But Mommy Willow will probably come looking for us soon, so until then how about we stay here and snuggle for a while, just you and me." Somebody thought they had been forgotten, so that somebody kicked. "And Lily" Tara added with a chuckle.

"Can't forgets Lily!" Sophie giggled.

* * *

AN: Okay, now I'm going to go work on my Christmas story for this year. It's set in this universe, and since Anya and baby Jesse appear it's set sometime after 'Promises', but it doesn't really connect to the other stories that much, but since it's a Christmas one I don't think it really matters. It will be called 'How Faith And her Little Helpers Saved Christmas'.


	17. Baby Pictures

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

* * *

"Come on Lily, smile for the camera, smile!"

"She can't smile yet Will, she's not even a week old!" Tara chuckled as Willow, armed with a camera that had been almost exclusively aimed at their newborn daughter since they had brought her home from the hospital two days before, continued to snap away.

"I know" said Willow, "But I figure if I just keep taking pictures, maybe I'll get one that kinda looks like she's smiling."

* * *

Over the coming days, Willow took many more photos of Lily. Buffy took quite a lot too, and Dawn. It was a good thing everyone had digital cameras now, or they all would have gone broke buying film. Yes, it was blindingly obvious that Lily would have no shortage of baby photos. But, it occurred to Tara that Sophie didn't, and never would have any pictures of herself as a baby. At least, Tara thought, smiling as an idea came to her, not any photographic ones. It didn't seem like her lack of baby pictures bothered Sophie, in fact the little girl had thrown herself proudly and enthusiastically into the role of big sister, and unlike most four-year olds, had not displayed any sign of jealousy or resentment at the amount of her parent's time and attention that her new sibling required. But although it didn't bother her now, it might later, and even if it was never going to bother her, it would be nice for Sophie to have at least one baby picture of herself, and if Tara had a way to give her that, well, why wouldn't she?

* * *

"Willow" Tara asked as they snuggled on the couch one night, having the house to themselves since Connor and Dawn were on a date, Faith and Buffy were patrolling, and both their daughters were asleep, "When we were all travelling through time, you saw Sophie as a baby, right?"

"Yeah" said Willow, shifting uncomfortably. "Why?" She didn't like to talk about her encounter with Sophie's infant self, mostly due to the guilt she felt at not being able to do more for her daughter then, that she hadn't been able to take her away from the demons who had mistreated her for the first three years of her life.

"What did she look like?" Tara asked.

"A beautiful baby girl" said Willow, a lump forming in her throat.

"See, that I would have known without asking" Tara smiled, playing with her wife's hair. "I'm gonna need a little more detail here, Sweetie."

"Why?" asked Willow, obviously beginning to stress out a little. "I thought the things we didn't know weren't important!"

"They're not" said Tara quickly, trying to calm her wife down. If Willow panicked anymore than she already was, she would probably burst into tears. "But, this one thing is important to me, because you got to see her and I didn't. And because there's something I want to do for Sophie.."

"Like what?" asked Willow, curious.

"Well, I can't really tell you that, 'cause it's kinda for you too" Tara explained, giving the redhead a quick kiss on the cheek. "Just tell me what she looked like, Please Will?" For a while, Willow didn't respond. Tara was just about to give up, not wanting to upset her wife any further, when she finally spoke.

"She looked a lot like you did.. in that baby picture we have of you, I mean. But she had more hair, and hers was red. Her face was redder than any baby I've ever seen too, but I think that was because she.. she was crying a lot" at this point, Willow's voice began to shake. "She was crying, and they just left her there. She kept crying, but they still left her. Nobody cared about her at all!" The bursting into tears moment that Tara feared had come, and she pulled her soulmate closer to her, hugging her tightly as she fought back a few tears of her own.

"You cared, Will. You loved her, even though you were only there for a few minutes. I think, subconsciously, some part of her must have remembered that, and helped her find you."

"You really think so?" Willow sniffled, wiping her eyes.

"With Sophie, I wouldn't be surprised" Tara smiled.

* * *

The next day, Willow took Sophie to the park, and Buffy and Dawn dragged Faith and Connor off to a sale at the mall, leaving Tara and baby Lily alone in the house. This turn of events suited Tara perfectly. After she had fed Lily and put her down for a nap, she rummaged through her drawers to find the new set of water colour pencils that Willow had bought for her since she had given Sophie her old ones before she was ressurrected, she pulled out her own baby photo from her box in the cupboard to use as a rough model, and then, she sat down and began to sketch. Tara drew the body of the baby mostly the same as her picture, not having much else to go on. She drew her eyes closed, as the cloudiness of baby-eyes would have been a little difficult to capture in pencil. She knew the colour of her hair, but as for the amount she just had to make a rough estimate, knowing only that her daughter had had more hair than she did as a baby. Just as she had finished the sketch and was slipping it into the frame that she had chosen for it, her wife and daughter returned home.

"We're back!" called Willow cheerily before glancing at the pencils scattered over the kitchen table, feeling rather puzzled. "Uh.. what have you been doing?"

"This" Tara smiled her lopsided smile, handing the now framed sketch to her wife. "Did I get it right?"

"Perfect" Willow whispered.

"Who is it?" asked Sophie, craning her neck to see.

"It's you" said Willow, crouching beside her daughter to let her see. "When you were a baby."

"It's a very pretty drawing, Mama Tara" said Sophie as she looked at it. "Was I really that pretty?"

"No" said Willow before Tara could respond, giving her little girl a warm hug. "You were even more."


	18. Not A Mistake

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

* * *

Tara stirred as the cries of her two-week old daughter echoed through the house, and the baby monitor on the bedside table beside her. Willow stirred too, and began to sit up, but Tara stopped her, gently pushing her back and placing a soft kiss on her lips as she climbed out of bed herself.

"Don't worry, I've got it."

"Okay" said Willow sleepily, her eyes already drifting shut again. "I love you.."

"Love you too" Tara whispered, resisting the urge to kiss her again and keep her from getting back to sleep. She crept down the hall, realising as she went that Lily's cries had already quieted, and beginning to panic a little, but she needn't have. Tara couldn't help noticing the way that her life often seemed to parallell her eldest daughter's. After she had been resurrected, Tara had had to re-learn a lot of things about life, while Sophie had been learning many of these things for the first time. Now, they had both recently been blessed with little sisters, and when Tara reached the nursery she found her little sister cradling Sophie's in her arms, explaining why the baby had stopped crying before she got there. Okay, so Tara may not have gained her sister in the traditional way, but she of all people knew that there was much more to family than shared blood. She and Faith had chosen each other, which Tara believed in some ways made their sisterhood even more meaningful.

"Hey, T" said Faith, glancing up from the baby. "Sorry if I freaked you out."

"Well, you did have me worried for a second" Tara smiled, moving to stand beside her. "But it's okay."

"You know, I can sleep through just about anythin'" said Faith, gently bouncing Lily. "In my neighbourhood you kind of had to, or you'd never get any sleep at all. So I learned to sleep through anythin', and I mean anythin'. Except.." she chuckled, "A cryin' baby. Weird, huh? For some reason, babies always just got to me."

"It's not weird" said Tara. "Knowing you I know you're probably going to think I'm crazy for saying this, but you might just have strong maternal instincts."

"Yeah" Faith sighed. "Part of me still thinks you're crazy, but now.. well, there's an equally big part of me that doesn't want you to be."

"Why?" asked Tara, curious.

"Well, since I'm gonna be a Mom myself .."

"What?" cried Tara in shock. "Did.. Did you and Buffy do that spell? Or did Dawn do it again? I thought she was out of that phase.."

"Geez T, let a girl finish" Faith laughed. "I'm gonna be a Mom myself _in the future. _When the pipsqueak pulled that time travel mojo on all of us, I saw my kid, mine and Buffy's. She's a real little cutie, had B's eyes.." the Dark Slayer trailed off for a moment, a small smile on her face, then shook her head, pulling herself out of her reverie. "Anyway, havin' some motherly instincts would help, since my Mom sure as hell didn't show me how to be a good parent."

"Mine did. My father, on the other hand.."

"Your Father is an asshole T, the only good thing he's contributed to the world is you." Before Tara could respond to this, (and reprimand the Slayer for swearing in front of the baby), Lily began to fuss and grizzle, then grabbed Faith's breast. If this had happened to anyone else, it may not have been quite as funny, but Tara burst out laughing.

"Gee, I'm flattered kid, but I don't really think my boobs are the ones you want" Faith smirked, handing the baby to Tara.

"You could feed her if you want" Tara offered. "I could go get a bottle.."

"Nah, I'm good. The breastfeedin's a bonding thing, right?" said Faith. "I should be gettin' back to B anyway. She can't sleep that well without me anymore, won't be long before she notices I'm gone." She turned to leave, while Tara headed for the rocking chair that she and Willow had put in the room for the purposes of late night feeds. As Faith reached the door, she paused, turning back. "Tara?"

"Yes?" The blonde wicca turned to her sister prepared to listen intently, Faith's use of her full name having acted as an indicator that whatever she had to say was important. Faith gazed at the fussy baby in Tara's arms with a look of tenderness which before her birth had been reserved for Buffy, Sophie, and more recently, Echo.

"Don't.. don't let her know that the spell that made her was an accident" she said. "Or she might get the idea that she's an accident herself." Tara frowned.

"Faith, we.."

"I know you and Red would never try to make her feel that way" Faith added quickly, "But kids can be sensitive about that stuff. I've spent half my life bein' told I was a mistake. My Mom always used to say that keepin' me was the biggest mistake she ever made. I've spent the other half of my life trying to recover from that, and I'm only just startin' to learn that I'm really worth somethin', you know?"

" I understand" Tara replied. "It took me a while to get there too. But Lily.. well, Willow and I had wanted her for a while before Dawn even did the spell. We'll always see her as a gift."

"Yeah, guess it was kinda stupid me worryin' so much.." said Faith, a little embarrassed.

"No, it's sweet that you care" Tara smiled. "And Faith" she added, as the Dark Slayer headed for the door, "You're not a mistake."

"T.."

"No, listen. You were a gift too. You just weren't one that was appreciated enough. Not all gifts are."

"Thanks, Tara" Faith grinned as she left. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Faith." Lily was quite grumpy by now, so Tara settled herself in the rocking chair, pushing her shirt up to feed the grizzling baby. "That was your Auntie Faith" she whispered to her, smiling. "She's Mama Tara's little sister, so she's special.."


	19. Father Of Eight

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

AN: This one takes place towards the end of 'Promises', just after Buffy and Faith got engaged.

* * *

It may come as a surprise to some, but in recent years Rupert Giles had joined the 21st century and learned to use a computer. He did not, however use it for research. On that front, he still preferred his old, 'smelly' books, which in his eyes, were still far superior for that purpose. In fact, if it had been left to him, he wouldn't have a computer at all. Willow had given him his computer as a gift before he'd left for England to start up the Slayer School. He had protested, and tried to refuse, but she had insisted, and, when she put on that adorable 'resolve face' she was famous for, he couldn't help but give in. And, once they were in England and Andrew had taught him how to use E-mail, he was glad he had.

So, Giles' primary use for his computer was keeping in contact with the Scoobies in Cleveland. Of course, the telephone was still better for when he wanted to have a real conversation with them, but since Willow had become a Mother he found himself using his E-mail a lot more often. She was always sending him pictures of her girls. Today when he sat down at his computer, he found more photos, but these were not just of Sophie and Lily. Recently, just a few days ago in fact, the Scooby Gang had almost lost Buffy, again. While she and Faith had been out helping Riley take out some poisonous demons he had tracked to their neighbourhood, the blonde Slayer had been stung by one of said demons, and later slipped into a coma. Thankfully, Tara, thanks to past magical knowledge gained from her Mother, had been able to use the herb Vervain to make special tea to revive and cure her. When Buffy did wake up, Faith, quite unexpectedly mind you, proposed to her. And Buffy had said yes.

The pictures Willow sent him had been taken on the night of this event. The first one was of Buffy and Faith, flashing their new engagement rings at the camera. Buffy was beaming, and while Faith seemed a little embarassed, her joy was evident. Giles smiled at the image. Not too long ago it would have seemed crazy to him that the chosen two would find their soulmates in each other, but that was what had happened, and he couldn't be happier for them. In the next picture Dawn had popped up between the two girls, arms around their shoulders, grinning. Riley was moping in the background. Then there were some pictures of Xander and the pregnant, recently resurrected Anya. Words couldn't describe how happy Giles was to have her back with them. He was also glad that Xander, despite his past mistakes, was doing the right thing by her now. Faith had definitely made the right choice regarding the use of her Slayerversary wish. It then appeared that someone, probably Dawn, Giles thought, had taken the camera from Willow to take some pictures of she and Tara. There were some photos of Sophie and baby Lily, one of Lily alone, reaching her chubby little hands out towards the camera, and finally, a photo of Sophie sitting on Illyria's shoulders, smiling the lopsided smile she shared with Tara. The God-King glanced up at the little girl, wearing a half-smile of her own. Giles' own smile widened. That child could melt the ice in anyone's heart.

He soon discovered that Anya had sent him something as well. It was the first ultrasound photo of her baby, and she had added a caption to it reading 'Tiny human- 12 weeks', and a little love heart. At that moment, Andrew entered the room, and, wondering what Giles looked so happy about, moved to look over his shoulder.

"Oh, is that Anya's baby?" he asked. Giles nodded. "Seems like everybody's having kids now. Do you ever regret not having any of your own?" Giles turned to the boy, looking mildly insulted.

"I do have children. Eight of them, actually. Six daughters and two sons. Two grandchildren as well."

"Really?" said Andrew, shocked. "But then how come.. How come you never see them?"

"Actually, I see them all quite a bit considering most of them live in another country."

"Well.. How come I've never met them then?" said Andrew, pouting.

"You have met them, Andrew" Giles laughed. "Many times." Andrew just looked confused. Giles laughed again, then closed his E-mail, pointing to the computer's wallpaper. It was a photograph, taken on the day of Faith's Slayerversary party. Giles, Buffy, Faith, Dawn, Xander, Anya, Willow, and Tara had crammed themselves into the shot, with Tara holding Sophie, and Willow holding Lily, who, having been only three months old when this picture was taken, looked very confused. "There. My children, and grandchildren."

"But they're not really your kids" Andrew frowned.

"Not biologically, no" said Giles, "But they are in every other way that matters. I love them, more than the majority of their 'real' fathers ever did. That, I believe, is more important." Andrew looked back at the photo, doing a quick head count.

"Mr. Giles, there's only seven people in this picture, not counting you and the kids" he frowned. "And Xander's the only guy, so.. who's your other son? Is it Spike, 'cause I thought you hated him.."

"No, it's not Spike" Giles chuckled. "Andrew, the thing about photographs is that, usually, somebody always has to be behind the camera to take them." Andrew looked back at the photo one more time, smiling as realisation came to him.

"I took that one."

"Yes" Giles smiled, laying a hand on his shoulder for a moment as he stood, before heading off to teach a class. "You did." Andrew smiled at the picture a few moments longer before chasing after him.

"Hey, can I call you Papa Giles now?"


	20. Protectors

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

* * *

Late one night, about a week after she and Buffy had become engaged, Faith woke to the sound of her two nieces bawling. Sophie would often wake up crying after a nightmare, and although Lily mostly slept through the night now, it wasn't completely unusual for her to wake up. But it was unusual for them to both be awake and crying at the same time, so, carefully disentangling herself from Buffy's embrace, The Dark Slayer got up to investigate. She reached Sophie's bedroom, peeking in to see Willow comforting the sobbing girl. Tara soon joined Faith in the hall, hugging a screaming Lily to her chest.

"Hey, T" Faith frowned, turning to her sister. "What's up with the girls?"

"Sophie had a nightmare" Tara sighed, "And Lily saw it too, I think. Sophie's connected to her, the same as she is to Will and me. She says she usually tries to block her nightmares from Lily, but this one was too big" Tara sighed again, glancing into the room at her wife and eldest daughter, while she rubbed comforting circles on her youngest's back. "She was too scared."

"What was the nightmare about?" Faith asked.

"The demons" Tara replied, looking somewhat frightened herself. Faith's frown deepened, knowing exactly which demons Tara was talking about.

"Little Red knows none of us would let anythin' happen to her. Besides, Red killed all of the.."

"Not all of them."

"What?"

"When we went to get the Vervain for Buffy, there was a demon left there" Tara explained. "I was alone when I saw it, so I kicked it in the.. you know where" she blushed. Faith gave an approving smirk. "Anyway, Willow killed that one later, but it said there were others." She turned her attention back to the screaming baby in her arms, then back to Sophie in her room, still crying into Willow's chest. "Faith, can you take Lily for a minute?" she asked, holding her out towards the younger girl. "She won't stop crying until Sophie does.."

"Yeah, I got her" said Faith, taking the baby from Tara, allowing the blonde to go help Willow tend to Sophie. For a moment, the loss of her Mother's arms made Lily cry louder, but Faith held her close and whispered comfortingly, and Lily liked Faith, so she quieted slightly. Faith couldn't wipe the frown from her face. Her nieces being so upset troubled her. And, a lot of terrible 'what if' scenarios had begun to swirl around in her mind. What if the Scoobies' raid on the cave had reminded the demons of Sophie's existance? She was the only human to have lived in that cave, the only person who knew where the Vervain was, and when the other demons had found it gone, they had to have known it was her who revealed it to the thieves. What if they did come after her again? They had beaten Faith once before, what if she couldn't protect her niece like she'd promised?

Sophie, more exhausted than anything, began to calm down, and Lily's cries faded to a whimper. Faith was gripped with a steely resolve, and felt the Slayer growl within her. No-one who had beaten Faith Lehane had ever done it twice. Especially not the times when she really had something to fight for.

"That's it kiddo, no more tears" she whispered, kissing the baby's forehead. "Auntie Faith's gonna make everythin' better. Auntie Faith and Auntie B are gonna fix it so you and your big sister don't have to worry about those mean old demons ever again."

* * *

When Faith headed back to her room a little while later, she found Buffy sitting up, waiting for her.

"Where have you been?" she pouted.

"Aww B, don't give me that look" Faith pleaded. "Little Red had a nightmare, and she shared it with Lily somehow, and I was just helpin' to calm 'em down."

"That's okay then" Buffy smiled, patting the bed beside her. "As long as you come back here right now, that is." Faith climbed back into bed beside her new fiance', pulling her close and stroking her silky blonde hair.

"So I was thinkin', now that you're better.."

"I've been better since the moment I woke up, Faith" Buffy smirked, lifting her head from the Dark Slayer's shoulder and leaning in for a kiss. "You just didn't want to get out of bed.."

"No B, _you_ were the one who didn't want to get out of bed" Faith teased.

"I didn't see you complaining" said Buffy, beginning a trail of kisses down her fiance's neck. Faith, suddenly remembering what she needed to talk about, gently pushed her away.

"Not now B. I need to ask you somethin'."

"Okay" Buffy looked at her, brow wrinkling in confusion.

"Well, I was wonderin' if you'd be up for a little Slayin' job tomorrow night."

"Um.. sure, if you really want to" Buffy frowned, still confused. "But I thought you were enjoying our break." Connor had been handling patrol for them the past week. Although, since he'd taken Dawn with him most nights, the amount of actual 'patrolling' that had been done was up for debate.

"I am, but.."

"Is there an apocalypse you haven't told me about?" asked Buffy suspiciously.

"No, no apocalypses."

"Then what?"

"Some of the demons that created Sophie are still alive" Faith replied. She saw Buffy slip into Slayer mode, with a little 'protective auntie' in the mix too, as she had made the same promise to Sophie about not letting anything happen to her.

"I'd say we go now, but there aren't enough hours of darkness left."

* * *

And so, the next night, the Chosen Two headed off on their mission. Faith had originally selected a regular old sword as her weapon, but Buffy had insisted she take the scythe, as this particular mission was _her_idea afterall. That, and she couldn't help but feel that Faith had something to prove in doing this.

"So, any idea how many of these things there are?" she asked as they headed through the park..

"Not a clue. Tara saw one. She kicked it in the balls" Faith grinned proudly. "Red killed that one, but they didn't bother stickin' around to check out anymore. Too busy tryin' to get the Vervain home in time to save you." Buffy nodded, then frowned as they reached the mouth of the cave.

"Well, I guess we'll find out now, huh?" Usually, not knowing at least roughly the number of demons she'd be facing would deter Buffy, or encourage her to scope the place out before barging in, but as this situation was so intensely personal, rational thought and planning had mostly been thrown aside. The two Slayers headed in, bypassing the decaying corpse of the Gora demon Illyria had killed during their friends' visit, and crept further into the cave, and soon found what they were looking for. A large group of demons were gathered together, speaking to each other in low voices, apparently plotting something. Fotunately Buffy and Faith, with their Slayer hearing, could still follow most of the conversation from their hiding place. But, when Faith heard one of the demons mention 'the child', remembering that that was how they referred to Sophie, she had heard enough and sprang forward, slicing off it's head with the scythe. This, of course, drew the attention of the other demons. Some of them, though recognising Faith as a Slayer, did not seem to perceive her as too great a threat, due to their greater numbers.. at least until Buffy appeared beside her. When Faith Lehane and Buffy Summers fought together, numbers very rarely entered into the equation. The demons surged forward, and the Chosen Two met them, slaying, beheading, and dismembering as only they could. When only one demon remained, Faith grabbed it by the throat and slammed it against the cave wall.

"Are there anymore of you? she growled.

"Why should I tell you?" It gasped out. "You're just going to kill me anyway."

"True" Buffy, standing behind her sister Slayer, nodded. "But, depending on whether you tell us what we want to know, your death could be very quick, or very slow. Your choice." When the demon didn't answer, Faith pressed harder against it's windpipe.

"I am the last of my kind" It admitted. "But you have no idea of the powers that girl posesses. More will emerge as she grows, and others will come after her!"

"I'd like to see 'em try" Faith growled. She snapped the demons neck, letting it fall to the floor.

* * *

"Come on, B" said Faith when they arrived home, "Let's go tell Little Red the good news."

"I don't think that's such a good idea right now, baby" said Buffy.

"Why?" Faith frowned. "I know she's probably sleepin', but what if she has another demon nightmare? She needs to know that.."

"I know, and we'll tell her" said Buffy. "I just meant that we should change into some stuff that's not covered in demon blood first."

"Oh" said Faith, looking herself over. "Right."

* * *

After they had gotten changed, the Slayer's crept into Sophie's room, and, as they had expected, found her asleep. Buffy smiled when she saw that the little girl was wearing the cross she had given her to keep her safe when she and Faith were out. The Dark Slayer gently shook her niece awake.

"Wha.." Sophie sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Auntie Buffy? Auntie Faith? Is something wrong?"

"Not at all, Little Red" Faith grinned, pulling the little girl into her lap. "It's something good, great actually."

"What?" asked Sophie, confused.

"Well," Buffy began, "Auntie Faith and I went to the cave tonight.." Sophie stiffened.

"And we got rid of all the demons" Faith smiled.

"_All_ of them?" said Sophie, eyes wide. "Really?"

"Yes, really" said Buffy, smiling. Sophie's face lit up as she threw her arms around both Slayers as well as she could, and they happily returned the hug. As for the demon's threat that others would come after Sophie, neither of them were overly concerned. Having two powerful witches as parents, two Slayers as aunties, the world's only two vamps with souls as uncles, and being one of the best friends of a God-King, had to make Sophie just about the most well protected child in the universe.


	21. A Little Help For Buffy

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

* * *

Sophie Rosenberg was troubled. Something was wrong with her Auntie Buffy. For the past couple of days, she had been a little off. She had been quiet and withdrawn, and not at all like her usual bubbly self. She didn't even react when Lily, squealing and giggling and reaching towards her, attempted to grab her attention, which was usually, given that she had designated herself Lily's favourite auntie, a surefire way to make Buffy smile. Sophie thought that she might have been sick again, but that couldn't have been right, somebody would have said something. Auntie Buffy couldn't have been fighting with Auntie Faith either, because if she was she wouldn't have been spending all her time curled up in a ball leaning against the Dark Slayer's shoulder. And, she was the only person, aside from Dawn, who was a little off too although less noticably so, to whom Buffy had spoken more than three words the past couple of days.

This was the reason why later that day, Sophie caught Faith on the way back from the bathroom to ask her what was going on.

"Auntie Faith, what's wrong with Auntie Buffy?"

"There's nothin' wrong with her, Little Red" said Faith. "She's just a little sad, that's all."

"Why's she sad?" Sophie frowned. Faith sighed, crouching to the little girl's eye level.

"You know Joyce, Auntie Buffy and Auntie Dawn's Mom?"

"Uh-huh, she's really nice."

"Yeah, she is" Faith smiled. "Anyway, Auntie B's sad because tomorrow's the anniversary of the day Joyce went to Heaven, and sometimes she still blames herself for not bein' able to stop her from dying."

"Why?" said Sophie, still frowning. "Did Joyce get bited by a vampire?"

"Uh, no.."

"Did she get killed by one of the Big Bads?"

"No" Faith repeated.

"Did she get shooted like Mama Tara?"

"No, Little Red. It had nothin' to do with vampires or demons or a nerd with a gun. Joyce died from an aneurysm."

"What's an anyrism?"

"It's.. Something went wrong in her brain" Faith explained. "There was nothin' anybody could have done to stop it."

"If there was nothing she could do to stop it then why is she blaming herself?" said Sophie, pouting. "How come everybody always says you're not 'sposed to blame yourself for stuff that's not your fault, but then they do it anyway?"

"I don't know, Little Red" Faith shrugged. "It's just human nature, I guess. Everybody with a slip of conscience does it, even you once, remember?"

"Yeah.." said Sophie, thinking of the time, before she knew Willow was her Mother, when she had run away after the demons had attacked Faith. And then, she found herself thinking of the time, just last week, when Buffy and Faith had destroyed all the remaining demons, to keep the shadow of them from plaguing her dreams. Sophie grinned, thinking of a way to repay them for this, although neither of her Aunties would have asked her to. But if Buffy was happy, Faith would be happy, and Sophie knew just how she might be able to cheer Buffy up. All she had to do was wait until bedtime..

* * *

_"Cordelia!" Sophie yelled in her dream, standing in the magical forest that Tara had brought her to when visiting her dream two years ago, and the location in which all her otherworldly dream visits had since taken place. "Cordelia, I needs to talk to you!" _

_"Okay, okay, I'm coming!" Cordy chuckled, appearing in the forest with baby Lily in her arms, feigning mild annoyance. "Couldn't you have waited five minutes? I was getting to you."_

_"Why have you gots Lily?" asked Sophie, confused._

_"I've got more than one little girl to watch over nowadays, if you hadn't noticed" Cordy tickled Lily's stomach, making the six-month old giggle. "Besides that, Your Mama Tara said she wanted Lily to grow up knowing who I am.." she trailed off for a moment, smiling softly, then turned back to Sophie. "Anyway, what did you want to see me about kiddo?"_

_"I need to talk to Joyce.._"

* * *

The next day, when Sophie once again found her blonde aunt curled up against her brunette counterpart, seeming even more detached from everyone than she had before, she climbed onto the couch with them and crawled into Buffy's lap. Buffy frowned at this, but Faith let the little girl be, knowing that Sophie rarely did nything without a good reason.

"Your Mommy loves you, Auntie Buffy" Sophie whispered.

"What?" said Buffy, taken aback, lifting her head from Faith's shoulder.

"Your Mommy loves you" Sophie repeated. "I talked to her in my dreams, and she told me to tells you that she loves you. And she wanted me to tell you that you gots to stop blaming yourself for what happened to her, 'cause it wasn't your fault, or anybody else's. So you gots to stop being sad now, okay?"

"Okay" said Buffy, feeling a smile tug at the corners of her lips for the first time in days as she hugged the little girl. "Thank you, Sophie." Sophie hugged Buffy back until she let go, then slid off the Slayer's lap.

"I gots to go talk to Auntie Dawn, now" she said. "Your Mommy wanted me to tell her some stuff too. Then I gots to remind Mama Tara that she's not allowed to die again for a long time for Cordy.."

"Okay. See you later, Sophie."

"See you later, Auntie Buffy" Sophie replied, before skipping off to look for Dawn.

"Hey Faith" said Buffy, frowning slightly, "You didn't just tell Sophie to say all that stuff, did you?"

"Nah, B" Faith grinned. "That was all Joyce."

"Good." Buffy settled herself back against Faith's shoulder, but now, she was smiling.


	22. Why Won't She Stop Crying?

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

* * *

"Are you sure you and Faith are gonna be okay with them, Buffy?" asked Willow a little worriedly, as she and Tara were heading out on a date. Connor and Dawn were handling patrol, allowing Buffy and Faith to babysit the girls. "Lily has been a little fussy today.."

"Aww, it's okay, she's got her favourite Auntie to look after her" said Buffy, grinning at the baby girl currently resting on her hip. "And her other Auntie, and her big sister. We're good here, Will."

"Okay, but if you have any problems call us" said Willow, launching into a slightly panicked babble. "And just in case my cellphone and Tara's cellphone both run out of batteries or something, I added the numbers for the restauraunt and the movie theater to the list of emergency numbers on the fridge, so you can call us there too.."

"Chill Red, we got this" said Faith, appearing at the door with Sophie beside her. "Seriously, when has anythin' bad ever happened while we've been babysittin'?" Willow frowned at her. Aside from the jailbreak bedtime story which the Dark Slayer was never going to live down, Willow and Tara had also discovered the 'too much ice-cream' incident, as nobody had thought to ask Sophie not to tell them. "I mean, you know, recently" Faith added sheepishly.

"I'd also like to point out that neither of the things you're thinking about were my fault" Buffy cut in.

"Not techinically, but.."

"They'll be fine, Will" Tara chuckled, pulling her overprotective wife out the door. "See you later, guys."

* * *

For a while, everything was fine. The Slayers watched a movie with their nieces, and while Lily was a bit fussy as Willow had warned, it was nothing the Chosen two couldn't handle. At least until she started crying at the top of her lungs as soon as Sophie had gone to bed. Well, maybe that was a slight exaggeration. First Lily had started fussing a little more, then grizzled, then whimpered, and _then _started crying at the top of her lungs. And, despite their best efforts, Buffy and Faith just couldn't get her to stop.

They had tried everything. Her diaper was clean, but she kept crying. They tried to feed her, but she wasn't hungry, and still kept crying. She didn't have a fever, or any other noticable illness or injury, but still she continued to cry. Buffy was just about in tears herself, ready to tear her hair out in frustration.

"Why won't she stop crying?" the Slayer yelled as she rocked and bounced Lily in a desperate attempt to comfort her. "Why won't she stop?"

"Calm down B, she's a baby" Faith pointed out. "It's perfectly normal for her to chuck a tantrum once in a while." Buffy glared at her, and Faith, seeing how stressed her wife-to-be was becoming, sighed. "Here, give her to me for a while."

"Good idea" Buffy, handing the screaming Lily to Faith. "You take her while I go call Willow and Tara.."

"B, are you nuts?" Faith yelled. "You can't call them, Red'll never wanna leave the house again!"

"Fine, what do you think we should do?" Buffy frowned.

"I dunno" Faith shrugged. "Just wait until she stops, I guess."

"Wait until she stops?" Buffy snapped. "Oh, great plan Faith! Why didn't I think of that?"

"I don't think there's much else we can do, B" Faith frowned. "We've tried everythin'."

"Auntie Buffy, Auntie Faith, why are you fighting?" The two Slayers turned to see a very sleepy Sophie at the bottom of the stairs, rubbing her eyes with one hand while Tara Bear dangled from the other. She was pouting. "I don't likes it when you fight."

"We're not fightin' Little Red" said Faith quickly. "We're just a little worried about your sister, aren't we B?"

"Yeah.." said Buffy, thinking of something. "Sophie, do you have any idea why she's crying so much?"

"She's teething again" Sophie replied.

"Teething?" said Buffy and Faith in unison.

"Uh-huh" said Sophie with a yawn. "Her second tooth's coming in." Her Aunties looked at each other, both feeling embarassed, and more than a little stupid. They both remembered the troubles Willow and Tara had had with the emergence of Lily's first tooth a few weeks before, and were currently slapping themselves for not working it out sooner. Buffy went to fetch a teething ring for Lily, while Faith offered her a finger to soothe herself with in the meantime.

"Hey Little Red, um, your Mommies don't have to know about this, okay?"

"Okay" said Sophie sleepily, heading back upstairs. "Goodnight, Auntie Faith."

"Goodnight, Little Red."

* * *

"See Will, I told you they'd be fine" said Tara after they had peeked into their daughter's bedrooms, finding them both sound asleep.

"I guess so.."

"What do you mean you guess so?"

"I reserve judgement until tomorrow" Willow frowned, "When I can ask Sophie what _really _happened while we were gone." Tara just shook her head, laughing as she followed her wife to their own room.


	23. Anya's Surprise

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

AN: Okay, I think it's about time for a Xander/Anya centric snapshot, don't you?

* * *

Anya Christina Emanuella Jenkins was not happy. The reason she was not happy was that for the past week, Xander had constantly been making excuses to keep her out of the apartment during the day. Anya wanted to know why Xander was so eager keep her away, but so far, she had got nothing out of him. Her biggest problem with not knowing why he was doing this was that her hormone charged brain could come up with only one possible explanation. Anya was five months along in her pregnancy, her baby bump now obvious, and she worried that it was giving Xander a constant reminder of approaching fatherhood, and possibly giving him cold feet regarding his commitment to their rekindled relationship and unborn child. She would have to confront him about it, she decided. She would have to confront him and find out the truth once and for all.

* * *

Xander grinned as he looked around the room he had spent the past week preparing. He'd taken a week out of his vacation time to do it, but it was worth it. Anya was going to be so happy when she saw it. Remembering Anya, he rushed out to finish up the rest of the apartment, which didn't take him long as all he had to do was tidy up a little. He had just finished when the door opened, and Anya, returning from a day at the park with Willow, Tara, and the girls, walked in.

"Ahn! I'm glad you're back, I want to show you.." Xander trailed off when he noticed the less than happy expression she was wearing. "Uh.. What's up?"

"You know exactly what is up Xander Harris!" Anya snapped. Xander's eyebrows crinkled in confusion, and Anya burst into tears. Xander frowned. Willow, having been through it all when Tara was pregnant with Lily, had warned him that pregnant women tended to get hormonal, so he had expected it, but not quite to this extent. Then again, Anya was a much more extreme personality than Tara.

"Come on Ahn, you can talk to me" he said, pulling her to him. "What's wrong?"

"You don't want me!" she sobbed into his shoulder. "You don't want me, and you don't want our tiny human, and I'll have to raise it all by myself but I have no idea how.."

"Whoa, whoa" said Xander, pushing her back slightly so he could look her in the eyes. "Anya, where the hell did you get that idea?"

"Well, you keep wanting me to stay out of the apartment, away from you.."

"That wasn't about wanting you away from me, Ahn" Xander chuckled. "Come here." He took her hand and led her into the room he had recently vacated, the room which, until earlier that week, had just been a spare room. It wasn't anymore. The previously plain white room had been repainted in baby-blue, and where there used to be a bed there was now a crib, and a changing table sat by the window. "We've only got four months left until the baby comes, so I thought we'd better get a move on on the nursery. I know I probably shouldn't have painted yet, but you seem so sure that the baby is a boy, and mothers are supposed to have instincts about that stuff, and.. I just wanted to surprise you."

"It's great Xander, really" said Anya sheepishly. "Sorry I.."

"You don't have to be sorry" said Xander, cutting her off. "I screwed up with us the first time around, I know I did, and I understand that it's gonna take some time for me to really earn your trust back. But I'm going to keep trying for as long as it takes, because I love you Anya, and I love our baby, and I will never, ever do anything to hurt you again if I can help it, okay?"

"Okay" Anya smiled, snuggling close to him. They stayed like that for a while, until they both felt something. "Um, what was that?"

"I think the baby just kicked" Xander grinned.

"It did? Oh my God, it did!" Anya squealed, hands flying to the bulge of her stomach. "It's kicking, our tiny human is kicking!" Xander's grin widened as he crouched down, kissing Anya's belly.

"Hi there, Xander Junior!"

"Xander" Anya frowned.

"Yeah?"

"We are not naming him Xander Junior!"


	24. Buffy's Nightmare

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

* * *

It was late night in the Scooby household, but Faith Lehane lay awake. She wasn't troubled at all, as she frequently had been in years gone by. Faith was awake for two reasons. One was that she just didn't sleep until late in general, and the other, the one really keeping her awake now, was that she just loved watching the woman laying next to her sleep. Buffy always looked so peaceful when she was sleeping, like a completely normal young woman who hadn't ever had to deal with having the fate of the world on her shoulders.

She was so beautiful, but Faith fought the overwhelming urge to kiss her, not wanting to disturb her sleep. Their Slayer connection had grown stronger as their romantic one deepened, making Buffy hypersensitive to anything Faith did, and meaning that even a tiny peck on the cheek might wake her. So, Faith contented herself by simply moving closer, snuggling as her wife-to-be had taught her to do on the night their relationship had begun, just over two years ago now. But, as Buffy had become hypersensitive to Faith, Faith had become hypersensitive to Buffy, and realised that her dreams may not be entirely sweet even before her brow crinkled, and she began to whimper. Faith gave her a minute to see if it would resolve itself, as nightmares sometimes did, but when Buffy began tossing and turning, she decided to intervene.

"B" she whispered, shaking her gently. "B, wake up." Buffy let out a sob, but didn't wake. "Buffy, wake up. I think you're havin' a nightmare." Buffy stirred, seeming a little confused at first, then threw herself at Faith, sobbing into her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.." she whimpered.

"Sorry for what?" said Faith. Buffy just continued to sob, and Faith frowned. "Is this about you stabbin' me again? 'Cause I already said I forgave you for that.."

"Doesn't mean I forgive myself" Buffy whispered.

"Well you should" said Faith. "'Cause like I said, I forgive you, and if the person you stabbed forgives ya for it, then.."

"But it took you a while."

"Yeah. But it was easy to forgive ya once I worked out the real reason I was so mad."

"And what is the reason you were so mad?" Buffy asked, wiping her eyes.

"Well, at first I thought I was mad because I hated you. But then when you died, it hurt so much, and that was when.." Faith paused, swallowing the lump in her throat. "That was when I realised that the real reason I was mad was 'cause I loved you, but, at the time, I thought there was no way in hell that you would ever love me back."

"You've loved me that long?" asked Buffy, a little surprised.

"Yeah" said Faith, slightly embarrassed. "But I love you even more now.. Which I guess is kind of obvious really, with the whole askin' you to marry me thing.."

"Yeah" Buffy agreed, allowing herself a small smile.

"Anyway" Faith continued, "I figure the reason why the stabbin' me thing bothers you now.."

"It's always bothered me" Buffy frowned.

"Okay, well the reason it bothers you so much more now is because, well, you love me."

"You may be right there" Buffy admitted, before giving her fiance a playful slap on the arm. "But since when are you so in tune with everybody's emotions?"

"Since you, some punk kid, and that chick who jumped in front of a smashin' vodka bottle to protect my eight-year-old self went and turned me into a big ol' softie" Faith smirked.

"Well, I'm glad we did" Buffy smiled, snuggling closer to her dark counterpart.

"Yeah" said Faith, kissing Buffy's forehead. "Me too."


	25. Lily's Favourite Person

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

* * *

Lily Anya Rosenberg, now ten months old, sat staring at the front door. She just stared and stared, and stared some more. Dawn and Connor, who had been charged with watching her, found this slightly worrying.

"Buffy!" Dawn called, a little panicked.

"What is it?" said Buffy, poking her head out from the kitchen, where Faith had taken it upon herself to teach her fiance' how to cook something without the risk of poisoning her housemates.

"Um, is Lily okay?"

"She's fine" said Buffy, glancing at the baby. "Why?"

"Well, she's been staring at the front door for the past ten minutes" Connor replied.

"She does that everyday, around the time Sophie comes home from school" said Buffy. "She's just waiting for her."

"But how does Lily know what time Sophie gets home from school?" asked Dawn, confused. "She's not even one yet!"

"She just does" said Buffy, smiling as a grin spread over Lily's face. "Look." Lily gave a happy giggle and began crawling towards the door, and as she did, it swung open, revealing Willow, Tara, and of course, Sophie. Lily's eyes lit up at the sight of her big sister.

"Hi, Lily" Sophie grinned, as happy to see her little sister as she was to see her. "Do you wants to see what I did at school today?"

"Aga ba ga!" Lily babbled happily.

"Okay" Sophie smiled, sitting beside Lily's rug on the floor and waited for her to crawl back to it. Willow and Tara smiled at their daughters, then headed into the kitchen to check that Buffy's cooking lesson wasn't causing too much chaos. Sophie began pulling things out of her backpack. "This is just my pencil case.. You shouldn't touch that Lily, you might accidently swallow the stuffs in it.. That's my reader book, I gots to get one of our Mommies to go through it with me later.." She rummaged through the bag for a few more minutes, before pulling out a piece of paper. "Here it is!" she grinned. "I had to draw my most happiest day ever, so I drawed the day I got you, my little sister!" Sophie smiled at Lily, who giggled, and began pointing out the things in the picture to her. "See, there's Mommy Willow, and there's me, and there's Mama Tara in bed, holding you. You're the little pink thing.."

A little while later, Tara came back into the room, scooping Lily into her arms. Lily fussed, not wanting to leave Sophie.

"Aww, come on kiddo, it's time for your bath" said Tara. "We won't be gone very long, and when we get back you can play with your big sister as much as you want."

* * *

Tara took Lily upstairs and bathed her, then carried her into the nursery to dress her. Lily squealed happily, pointing at the cartoonish painting of Sophie amongst the other ones on her wall.

"Ph..Ph.. Phie!"

"Yes, that's Sophie" Tara said, then froze. "Wait, did you just.."

"Phie!" Lily repeated.

"Oh my god, your first word! Willow!" Tara called, "Lily just said her first word!" Willow appeared in the room in what felt like mere seconds.

"Oh my god!" she squealed, rushing in and taking the baby from Tara. "What was it? What did she say?"

"Phie!" said Lily, pointing at Sophie who had appeared in the doorway, having followed Willow.

"She said her big sister's name" Tara grinned. "As well as she could, anyway."

"I'm her first word?" asked Sophie, slightly awestruck.

"It looks like it" Willow smiled.

"Why?"

"Why not?" said Tara. "You are her favourite person."

"I am?"

"Of course you are" said Willow. "Why do you think she's so happy when you get home from school everyday?"

"Phie, Phie!" cried Lily, reaching her little arms out towards her sister.

"Okay" Willow chuckled, setting her down. "Off you go." Lily crawled over to Sophie, wrapping her arms around her leg.

"Phie!"

Sophie giggled, stroking her little sister's soft blonde hair. Then, the moment was destroyed when, after some panicked shouting from downstairs, the house's smoke alarms went off.

"I told Faith it was pointless to try and teach Buffy to cook" said Willow, rolling her eyes.

* * *

AN: I'd just like to take this opportunity to point out that one of my other stories, 'Scoobies In Paris', is one chapter away from completion, and some of you haven't reviewed it in a while. If you don't follow that one it's fine, but if you do, could you check it out? I'd really appreciate it.


	26. Cooking With The Slayers

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

* * *

After the incident in which Buffy had allowed a pot to boil dry and catch fire, everybody decided that it was probably best if Buffy didn't have any more cooking lessons. Everybody, that is, except for Buffy. She didn't get what the big deal really was. It was only a _little _fire. And so what if she'd set that tea towel on fire trying to put it out? Faith had fixed everything. Okay, maybe she'd burnt herself in the process, but it was only a _little _burn, and with her Slayer healing it was almost completely gone already.

If convincing Faith to give the lessons another try was all she'd had to worry about, well, then she wouldn't have had much to worry about, because Buffy could make Faith do pretty much anything just by pouting. In fact, that was how she'd got Faith to give her lessons in the first place. The problem now was that whenever Buffy had tried to use the pout on Faith again, Willow had intervened. Yep, sometimes Buffy really missed the days when her best friend had been a shy little computer nerd, rather than a mega powerful witch who may snap and kill them all if somebody pissed her off enough.

So, Buffy was left to wait until the day, about a week later, when Dawn had dragged Connor off somewhere, and Willow and Tara went out, leaving baby Lily in Buffy and Faith's care (Willow had been trying to be less overprotective recently).

When her beautiful fiance sidled up to her on the couch, Faith knew she was in trouble. When she glanced at the babbling baby in Buffy's lap, Faith knew she was in even bigger trouble. Lily wasn't old enough to use her ability to turn her aunt to mush to purposely manipulate her, but Buffy was, and with the combination of the two of them, Faith had no hope.

"So, baby" Buffy began, "I was thinking that maybe we could.."

"No" said Faith quickly, trying not to meet her eyes.

"But.."

"I know what you're gonna ask B, and the answer is no" said Faith, trying to stand firm. Buffy smirked at her girlfriend's reaction, having expected it at first, then looked to the baby on her knee.

"Auntie Faith's being s big meanie, isn't she Lily?" Buffy asked the baby. "All I want is some more cooking lessons. Don't you think Auntie Faith should give me more cooking lessons?"

"Eh" said Lily, seemingly more interested in sucking on Willow Bear's ear than her aunt's conversation.

"See?" said Buffy. "Lily agrees with me."

"Buffy" Faith sighed, "You know why everyone decided I should stop givin' ya those lessons. Everytime you try to cook somethin' it ends in disaster. Hell, sometimes when you even just go into the kitchen bad stuff happens. Like that time Dawn shrank Willow and Tara before their engagement party and you swept 'em up and threw 'em in the trash."

"Hey, that was mostly Dawn's fault for shrinking them in the first place" said Buffy, annoyed. "And it's kind of your fault too, 'cause they wouldn't have even been in the kitchen if you hadn't been vaccuming.."

"Which you told me to do" Faith smirked.

"Aww, come on Faith" said Buffy, and Faith cringed, knowing what was coming next. Echo, on the floor at Faith's feet, covered his eyes with his paws and whimpered. This was it. Buffy busted out the pout. "Please?"

"'Phie?" Lily looked up, her attention instantly grabbed by any word that sounded even remotely similar to her sister's name, her eyes darting around excitedly.

"No sweetie, Sophie's still at school" said Buffy, before quickly turning her attention back to Faith, and continuing to pout. "Please, Faith? I promise I won't set anything on fire this time. Please?"

"Jeez, if our kid inherits that pout I won't have a scrap of free will left.." Faith grumbled. She looked back at Buffy, still pouting, and, again, relented. "Okay. But you're right about one thing, B. You're sure as hell not gonna set anythin' on fire this time, 'cause we're gonna make somethin' real simple, somethin' even you couldn't possibly set on fire.." she paused for a second as she stood. "And if you want to see your fiance' live to be your wife, you're not gonna say a word about it to Red, okay?"

"Okay" Buffy grinned.

* * *

Once in the kitchen, Buffy strapped Lily into her high chair, while Faith gathered everything they needed, dumping the items on the kitchen bench. These included a blender, two bananas, some strawberries, a tub of yoghurt, and a bottle of milk.

"Okay B, we're gonna make a smoothie" said Faith. "A nice, simple fruit smoothie, which is impossible to undercook, or overcook, or set on fire, or blow up, or endanger our lives with. Got it?"

"Yup" Buffy grinned.

"Okay, so first we just cut up the bananas and the strawberries.. Be careful with that knife, B."

"Faith!" Buffy laughed. "I'm a Slayer, I think I know how to handle a knife without hurting myself."

"Hey, after all your other adventures in the kitchen, I think I have a right to.. Ouch!" Faith yelped, slipping and cutting her own finger.

"Who needs to be careful now?" Buffy smirked.

"Shut up, B" Faith frowned, sucking her injured finger. "I'm gonna go get a band-aid.. Don't touch anythin' while I'm gone!"

"I won't" said Buffy, rolling her eyes. But, as soon as her dark counterpart had left the room, she cast her eye over Faith's half chopped banana, and the other remaining ingredients. Faith was right, a smoothie wasn't hard. In fact, Buffy was pretty sure she could finish it by herself, before Faith even came back. Yeah, she decided, she was going to do it by herself, and prove to everyone that her being in the kitchen didn't always lead to disaster. So, Buffy finished cutting up the fruit. She placed it in the blender. She added the yoghurt. She added the milk. She started the blender. She would have had the perfect smmothie too, except that she'd forgotten to put the lid on the blender. As the Slayer screamed, blobs of yoghurt and chunks of fruit flying everywhere, Faith rushed back into the room.

"Buffy!" she yelled, instinctively moving to shield the giggling baby Lily from the flying food while also trying, and failing, to reach the blender's 'Off' button. "For the love of.. Turn the damn thing off!" Buffy did so. "I told you not to.." after surveying the mess she had once again made of the kitchen, Faith turned to yell at her wife-to-be, but stopped when she noticed the tears streaming down her face.

"I'm never gonna get this right, am I?" she sobbed. "I'll just keep screwing up forever!"

"Aww come on B, it's not that bad" Faith sighed. "Besides, you don't really need to cook, 'cause I can. We balance each other out. And besides.." she hesitated, "You're not the only one of us who's turned this kitchen into a disaster area."

"I'm not?" said Buffy, wiping her eyes.

"Nah. That time you were off talkin' care of the apocalypse just after we started dating, Red and Tara left me to watch Little Red. I gave her candy for dinner, and.."

"YOU WHAT?" a very familiar voice screamed, prompting the Slayers to turn and see Tara, Sophie, and a very angry Willow in the kitchen doorway.

"Crap.." Faith muttered.


	27. Perceptions

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

* * *

Tara Rosenberg was completely, totally, absolutely head over heels in love with Willow Rosenberg. Willow was an amazing wife, an amazing Mother, and an all around amazing person. The only thing she wasn't, Tara thought with a frown, was high on self-esteem. Although Willow didn't make the problem obvious, Tara could easily see the signs, having suffered self-esteem issues herself in the past.

The main issue at play was the fact that Willow was still a little afraid of herself. Afraid that if her dark self was to take hold again, she could hurt Tara, or their children. Both fears of which Tara finds completely ridiculous, given the evidence stacked against them. When, during the Scoobies Dawn-induced time travel adventures, Sophie had encountered Dark Willow, she hadn't hurt her. She hadn't even tried. In fact, she'd done the opposite. Dark Willow had saved Sophie's life. And, seeing as Tara's death had been the catalyst for Dark Willow's emergence, the idea that she would hurt her if she resurfaced seemed unlikely. And given how very 'not dead' Tara was, the possibility of Dark Willow _completely _resurfacing (a little sometimes slipped out occasionally, most notably when they'd last dealt with Tara's 'family'), seemed just as unlikely. But, Willow still worried, no matter how much anybody tried to convince her otherwise.

One night, Tara was contemplating this very problem when she stumbled upon a sight that made her heart melt. She couldn't possibly imagine Willow ever harming the little person currently snuggled in her lap. Since Lily had learned to say Sophie's name, or at least her infant variation of it, the other members of the household had been eager to try and make her say their names. Unfortunately some of them, ie, Buffy and Dawn, had been a little pushy about it, and earlier, seeing the stress Lily seemed to be under, Willow had snapped, snatching her baby away from them and telling them to back off.

Now they sat snuggling on the couch, with Lily clutching Willow Bear, her favourite toy since she was old enough to play with it. Tara backed away a little, not wanting to intrude on them.

"Don't worry about your silly Aunties, Lily" said Willow, hugging the ten month old close. "Just because some babies start mimicking like parrots as soon as they talk doesn't mean you have to. You don't have to say another word until you're good and ready, okay?"

"Eh" said Lily.

"Okay" Willow chuckled, running a hand over her daughter's growing mop of silky hair. Just as Sophie's fiery red hair was the most obvious physical trait she had inherited from Willow, Lily's brownish-blonde was the most noticable thing she'd inherited from Tara. In every other way, she was pretty much a Willow clone. Which was fine by Tara, but.. "Poor thing" said Willow, as the set of emerald green eyes that perfectly matched her own gazed up at her. "You're turning into a mini-me aren't you? A real little Willow."

"Ih-oh!" Lily giggled, clapping her hands.

"Huh?" said Willow, confused.

"Ih-oh, Ih-oh!" Lily repeated.

"Sorry Sweetie, I still don't know what you're talking about" Willow frowned. Lily, a somewhat annoyed look filling her small features, jabbed a chubby finger at Willow's nose.

"Ih-oh!"

"Oh, I get you now!" Willow grinned. "I'm Ih-oh, right?"

"Ih-oh!" Lily giggled again, snuggling closer.

Tara left them, sighing, and almost crashed straight into her eldest daughter, who had been standing a little way behind her.

"Oh! Sorry kiddo, I almost didn't see you there" Tara laughed.

"That's okay, Mama Tara" said Sophie, looking behind her Mother through the doorway she had just moved away from. "You don't gots to worry so much about Mommy Willow, you know."

"How did you know I.." Tara trailed off. "Stupid question." Sophie always knew how her parents and sister felt, due to the magical link they all shared.

"I knows Mommy Willow still gets scared 'bouts turning bad again sometimes" Sophie continued. "But we, me, and you, and Lily, we only sees her as good things. To you shes the person you loves, and to me and Lily, she's just our Mommy. All our good thoughts gots to rub off on her a little sometimes, right?"

Tara smiled, pulling her daughter into a hug.

"I hope so."


	28. An Unlucky Night For Xander

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

* * *

"Xander" the now seven-months pregnant Anya whispered, poking her one-eyed lover in the back. "Xander, wake up." Xander reluctantly stirred.

"Ahn, it's 3AM" he groaned when he caught sight of his alarm clock, pulling the covers over his head. "Go back to sleep."

"But it's important!" Anya whined. Xander forced himself to wake up a little more and rolled over, brow wrinkling in concern.

"Is it the baby?"

"No, of course not" Anya frowned. "If it was the baby, I'd be very mad at it, because it's not supposed to come for two months. I need pickles. And cookie dough ice cream."

"Don't we have those in the fridge?"

"No. I ate them already. I need you to go buy more."

"You woke me up for that?" cried Xander, annoyed. "Ahn, I am not going out at 3 in the morning just to.." Anya glared at him, and Xander gulped, climbing out of bed. "Okay, maybe I am."

* * *

As Xander drove through the dark, deserted streets, he cursed Willow, whose only advice on dealing with a pregnant significant other was to cater to their every whim to avoid setting off any mood swings. But according to Faith, Tara had had a relatively easy pregnancy with very few mood swings, and Willow was just being overly protective and cautious as she always was. Still, Xander grudgingly had to admit, the advice fit perfectly in Anya's case. She was sensitive enough ordinarily, and was even more so now that she was pregnant. So, to keep the peace, it _was _best to just do whatever she wanted. He just wished what she wanted hadn't involved him going out at 3AM on a winter morning. He reached the service station closest to his apartment block and climbed out of the car, pulling his jacket tighter around him. The place had pickles, but no cookie dough ice-cream. So, after purchasing the pickles, out Xander went, in search of the next decent store that would be open at 3AM.

* * *

Unfortunately when he reached this store, the same thing happened. And at the one after that, it happened again. But finally, just as Xander was about to give up, the fourth store he visited stocked the flavour of ice-cream he sought. Unfortunately, as he left the store with his purchase , his missing eye prevented him from seeing a vamp come at him in his peripheral vision until it had him slammed against a fence in a shadowy area nearby. Xander dropped the ice-cream and desperately reached for the stake in his pocket, but the vampire pinned his arms and he couldn't grasp it. He closed his eye, and, in what he believed to be his final moments, Xander Harris mentally apologised to Anya, and prayed that his friends would look after her and the baby. The vamp's fangs inched towards his jugular. But then, suddenly, an engine roared, a familiar voice yelled at the vamp to get it's filthy paws off him, and Xander collapsed into a coughing fit, surrounded by a fresh cloud of vamp dust.

"Damn, Xan-man!" Xander opened his eye to see his saviour, Faith, brushing dust from her own jacket. Her motorcycle stood nearby. "What the hell are you doing out this late?"

"Buying ice cream and pickles for Anya" Xander replied, picking up said ice-cream. Faith raised a puzzled eyebrow, so he elaborated. "She had cravings. Why are you here?"

"Stake out" Faith explained. "People have been goin' missing around this place for the last couple of nights. Now we know why."

"Oh. Well, thanks Faith, but I should probably head home."

"Yeah.. Hey isn't that your car?" as Faith said this, Xander turned to see a hobo taking off down the street in his car, which he had stupidly left unlocked, with the keys in the ignition.

"Yes" Xander groaned, slapping his forehead. "Could tonight get any worse?"

"Don't worry Xand" said Faith, offering him a spare helmet before climbing back onto her bike. "I'll give ya a lift home, hop on."

"Uh.. okay" said Xander, a little awkwardly, as he put the helmet on and climbed on the bike, laying his hands on the Dark Slayer's hips with a feather light touch.

"Uh, you're gonna have to hang on a little tighter than that, Xand" Faith smirked, trying to pull his arms tighter around her waist. He quickly jerked them back.

"Anya could see" Xander frowned. "You know she's always been jealous of you, and she's pretty moody at the moment with the pregnancy.."

"I may have been your first Xan-man, but I never had your heart" Faith chuckled.

"You kinda did" said Xander, a little embarassed. "You know, before you almost strangled me.."

"That wasn't your heart Xand, it was the thing most teenage boys confuse with their heart" said Faith.

"Yeah, but.."

"Which would piss Anya off more? You hangin' onto me while you're ridin' on my motorbike, or you dyin' and leavin' her to bring up your kid on her own 'cause you weren't hangin' on tight enough?"

"Good point" Xanderadmitted, wrapping his arms around Faith's waist.

* * *

They soon arrived back at Xander's apartment block, and he headed inside. But, just as Faith was about to drive off, he came back.

"Can you take me back to the store? The pickles were in the car."


	29. The Threat That Never Sticks

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

AN: I know I do a lot of Buffy and Faith babysitting chapters, but I just keep thinking of so many great scenarios and can't help writing them :)

* * *

"Faith?" Buffy called as she entered the house, shopping bags clutched in her hands, "I'm home, where are you?"

"In here, B" Faith called back. Buffy set the bags down headed into the loungeroom to find Faith sitting on the floor, with Lily just across from her, rolling a ball back and forth. This was the ten-month old's new favourite game. Echo bounced around them, fetching the ball whenever it went off course. Buffy smiled at the image they created, then looked around, confused.

"Uh.. Where is everyone?"

"Well" began Faith with a smirk, "Connor and Dawn are.."

"I know where Connor and Dawn are!" Buffy snapped. The young couple were in L.A celebrating their second anniversary, and Buffy had been trying very hard to block out the type of activities this celebration probably entailed. She liked Connor, and she knew Dawn was a smart girl and would be safe, but it was still difficult for Buffy to accept that her little Dawnie was all grown up. "I was talking about the others!"

"I know, B" said Faith. "Sorry for teasin'. Little Red won an award at school, so Willow and Tara took her out for ice-cream."

"And they left you and Lily behind because?" Buffy frowned.

"Lily had a bit of a fever this mornin'" Faith explained.

"Is she okay?" asked Buffy, concerned, as she sat down beside her wife-to-be.

"She's fine, they were just bein' safe." She continued to roll the ball to Lily, a grin spreading over her face. "Lil's gettin' pretty good with everybody's names now. She got yours down today."

"Really?" said Buffy, beaming as she turned to the baby. "Lily, can you say 'Buffy'?"

"B!" Lily giggled, showing off her nearly full set of teeth.

"No" the blonde Slayer frowned, "Buffy."

"B!" Lily repeated, pointing at her self-proclaimed favourite aunt. "B, B, B!" Faith collapsed into a fit of laughter, and Buffy glared at her.

"You are so dead."

"Oh, come on" Faith laughed, "I can't help what the kid picks up from me when I'm alone with her. And hey, it could've been worse. I could have said 'shit' or 'bitch' or.." Lily giggled, reminding the Dark Slayer of her presence, and sending her into a slight panic. "Uh, don't say those kid, those are bad words." This time it was Buffy's turn to laugh. "It's not funny, B! What if she says that in front of Willow?"

"It'll be your own fault for teaching it to her" Buffy chuckled, "And payback for teaching her my name wrong."

"I told you B, I didn't do it on purpose, she just copied."

"Maybe. But you're still gonna have to pay."

"Oh yeah?" Faith flashed a full dimpled grin. "And what would this payment involve exactly?"

"Obviously not what you're thinking" Buffy smirked. "It has mostly to do with me being the only person who can take advantage of the fact that you are extremely ticklish."

"You wouldn't" said Faith, shuffling away from her.

"Yes, I would" Buffy lunged at Faith, tackling her fiancee' to the ground and tickling away. Echo, who was a very smart dog, stepped between the Slayers and baby Lily, so as to keep her out of the line of fire if their current tickle war got out of hand.

"Buffy, stop!" Faith gasped out between her uncontrollable fits of giggles. "Please, stop it! Stop!"

"Um.. Not yet" Buffy replied, continuing her assault. But, regaining her composure for a moment, Faith flipped her sister Slayer, straddling her waist.

"Whose gonna pay now?" she smirked.. Just as Willow, Tara, and Sophie returned home.

"You guys!" cried Willow, annoyed.

"We're not doin' what you think we're doin'" said Faith, quickly scrambling off of Buffy.

"Shid!" said Lily proudly. Willow's eyes narrowed, darkening slightly along with her roots.

"That word's not what you think it is" said Faith, a little nervous.

"Bith!" said Lily.

"Uh.. neither is that one."

"That's it!" Willow snapped as she strode across and scooped Lily into her arms, before marching out of the room. "You guys are never babysitting again, ever!"

"Crap" said Buffy.

"Eh" Faith shrugged. "That threat never sticks."


	30. Being A Mom

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

AN: Anya may be a little OOC in parts of this, but then she's not supposed to be herself, so..

* * *

It was a chilly winter morning in Cleveland when Willow pulled up in the parking lot outside Xander and Anya's apartment building. As she climbed out of the car, she grabbed the diaper bag from the unoccupied passenger seat next to her, slinging it over her shoulder before moving to the back of the car and unbuckling Lily from her car seat.

"Hey, baby" Willow smiled, scooping her younger daughter into her arms. "We're going to visit Auntie Anya, won't that be fun?"

"Ahn, Ahn!" Lily giggled. Willow chuckled, hugging the baby closer to shield her from the cold until they got inside. She just hoped Anya would share Lily's enthusiasm. The former demon was about to enter her eighth month of pregnancy, and the closer her child's birth grew, the more panicked and stressed out she seemed to become. It had reached a point where Xander didn't like leaving her alone for too long, hence Willow promising to drop by and spend the afternoon with her, a promise she was more than happy to keep. The only problem was, Willow had noticed, the more stressed Anya became, the less comfortable she seemed to be around children.

"Oh well" Willow sighed to herself as she exited the elevator on her friend's floor, "Maybe spending a little time with you will help her feel better, hey?"

"Ahn!" Lily repeated, clapping her little hands. Willow knocked on the door, smiling when Anya opened it.

"Hi, Anya" Willow greeted, stepping inside. "Did Xander tell you I was coming?"

"Yeah" Anya frowned slightly, eyes flicking to to Lily. "He didn't say you were bringing your tiny human."

"I kinda had to" Willow shrugged. "See, Tara and Faith went off on their little sisterly bonding day that they sometimes do now, and Buffy thought that sounded like a good idea so she's taken Dawn out somewhere. As much as I like Connor, I didn't really want to leave Lily alone with him, so here we both are! But you love Lily, so I didn't think it would be a problem.."

"It's not" said Anya a little too quickly, looking noticably awkward. "Uh.. Do you want a cup of coffee or something?"

"Yeah, but I'll get it, you go sit down." They headed into the apartment's lounge area, and Anya settled herself onto the couch, while Willow set Lily down on the carpet nearby, giving the baby Willow Bear and a small pink ball, her two favourite toys, to occupy herself with, before standing and heading into the kitchen. "Can you watch her for a minute?"

"Yeah.. sure" said Anya. After Willow had left the room, Lily turned to face Anya, smiling the impish smile she shared with her flame-haired Mother.

"Ahn!" she said happily, rolling the ball towards her Aunt.

"I don't want to play right now, tiny human" Anya frowned, lightly kicking the ball in her direction. Lily just rolled the ball straight back. "I said I didn't want to play!" This time she didn't return the ball, so Lily crawled over to retrieve it herself, pausing to gaze up at Anya with something that almost seemed like concern.

"Ahn?"

"Stop looking at me like that, with those big adorable worried eyes" Anya frowned.

"Ahn?"

"I said stop it! It's not like you can really understand anything that's going on anyway.."

"She understands enough to know that you're not yourself" said Willow, concerned, as she re-entered the room, placing two cups on the nearby coffee table before sitting down beside Anya, and lifting Lily into her lap. "The things she can't grasp yet, well, maybe I can, so spill."

"You'll think it's silly" said Anya, crossing her arms. "You, especially, will think it's silly."

"If something worries you enough to make you this upset, it's never silly" said Willow, remembering the words Sophie had told her on the little girl's fourth birthday. "And if it's important to you, it doesn't really matter what I think." Anya remained uncharacteristicly silent for a few more moments, then finally spoke.

"I.. I don't know if I can do this.."

"Do what?"

"This!" Anya cried, gesturing to her swollen belly. "I don't know anything about raising tiny humans! What if I break him or something because I didn't hold him right? What if I teach him the wrong stuff, or turn him into the weird kid who gets picked on at school? You and Tara are great Moms, but I don't know if I can be. What if.."

"Anya, I think you already are" Willow cut her off, smirking slightly.

"I'm already what?" said Anya, confused.

"A great Mom" Willow clarified. "You wouldn't worry so much if you weren't. For us Moms, worrying is kinda part of the job description."

"It is?"

"Yup. But the things your worried about, don't be so much, 'cause the raising and not breaking him should mostly come naturally. If I were you, I'd be more worried about stuff like remembering not to talk about certain things in front of him.

"You mean like sex?"

"Anya!" cried Willow, clapping her hands over Lily's ears. "We only just got her to stop saying the dirty words Faith taught her last week!"

"So.. no to the sex?"

"Yes!" Willow snapped. During the conversation, Lily had started squirming, attembting to crawl from her Mother's lap into Anya's. "Oh, I think she wants you" said Willow, handing her over.

"Me?" said Anya, confused. "Why?" The answer became clear as Lily, giggling, placed her little hands on Anya's stomach, beginning to babble away as though speaking to the baby inside. The baby kicked in return.

"Oh, that is so cute!" said Willow with a small squeal, quickly forgetting how annoyed she was a few moments before.

"Yeah" Anya smiled. She then paused for a moment, thinking. "So if talking about you-know-what is a no go..."

"Yes.." said Willow, slightly worried about the next words that would come out of her friend's mouth.

"Is it okay to use 'The time Daddy got Syphilis from a Chumash tribe' as a bedtime story?"

Willow just sighed. Xander and Anya's child was going to have an interesting upbringing, but at least it would never be boring.


	31. Make A Better Future

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

(I especially don't own the section of dialogue from 'Who Are You?' that appears in this chapter.

* * *

Late one night in the Scooby household, a certain Dark Slayer was tossing and turning in her sleep..

* * *

_As Willow headed to the bar to get their drinks, Faith, in Buffy's body, couldn't help noticing the way her companion's eye's followed her._

_"So, you guys been hanging out a lot lately huh?" she smirked._

_"Yeah" said Tara shyly. "She's um, she's really cool.." Faith grinned. This was just too good!_

_"So Willow's not driving stick anymore. Who would have thought? I guess you never really know someone until you've been inside their skin. And Oz is out of the picture? Oh, never seen two people so much in love. She just couldn't get enough of old Oz.."_

_"She, um, said he, uh, um, w-w-w-w-went.."_

_"W-W-W-W-What?" Faith taunted. "You gonna get that sentence out sometime tonight?"_

* * *

Faith stirred and sat up, groaning, as an overwhelming sense of guilt washed over her.

"I was such a bitch.." she muttered to herself. Her new wife, (Despite her guilt Faith smiled slightly, as it still gave her a slight thrill to call Buffy that), curled up on the other side of the bed, rolled over to face her.

"Are you okay, baby?" asked Buffy, concerned. "It sounded like you were having a nightmare."

"Nah B, I'm cool" Faith sighed. "Just a reminder of another crappy thing I did that I have to say sorry for. Go back to sleep."

"Okay" Buffy yawned, drifting off. Faith sighed again. You see, Tara rated very highly on her 'People not to hurt' list. Tara was the person who had willingly jumped in front of Faith's eight-year old self to protect her from a shattering bottle her Mother had thrown, gaining a scar in the process. Tara made the tea that saved Buffy's life when Faith thought she was going to lose her. Tara had talked her down from her Pre-Wedding jitters, and stood proudly beside her as she said her vows. Tara was her sister.

But Faith had hurt her, and she hadn't even remembered it until tonight. Because the shy, stuttering girl she had met then seemed so different from the strong, courageous woman she now knew Tara to be, she just hadn't made the connection. Still, it didn't matter. No matter how much they had both changed since, back then, Faith had been unnecessarily cruel to a girl who, at the time, hadn't yet even been truly part of the group she was trying to hurt. A girl who, nowadays, couldn't have meant more to her if she really was her sister. Faith snuggled back down beside her wife, mouth set in a determined line. Tomorrow, she was going to apologise.

* * *

The next morning, once she heard activity elsewhere in the house, Faith climbed out of bed, tucked the covers back securely around Buffy, then crept downstairs. Sophie was sitting on the couch watching 'Saturday Morning Cartoons', ie, a DVD Willow had burnt for her full of all the cartoons that were on when she and the other Scoobies were kids, 'cause they were pretty much all in agreement that today's cartoons were stupid. Lily was sitting on the floor playing with Willow Bear.

"Good Morning Auntie Faith" greeted Sophie.

"Mor' Fai'" said Lily, smiling.

"Mornin' Little Red, Lilypad" Faith grinned. "Is your Mama Tara up yet?

"She's in the kitchen" Sophie replied.

"Thanks" said Faith, heading in the direction her niece had indicated.

* * *

"Oh, Good Morning Faith" said Tara, mixing a bowl of pancake batter, as the Dark Slayer entered the Kitchen. "I'm making pancakes, do you want.."

"I'm a bitch."

"What?" asked Tara, brow wrinkling in confusion.

"Well, I just remembered that I never apologised for all the bitchy stuff I said to you that time I stole Buffy's body, like teasin' you about how much Willow loved Oz, and you're stutterin'" Faith explained. "So, I'm sorry." Tara frowned, taking a moment to even remember the moment Faith was talking about.

"Oh, that!" she chuckled finally. "That was years ago, Faith. And you were a very troubled kid. So was I, in a way. We're both different now."

"It was still wrong.."

"And you've apologised, so that's the end of it."

"But.."

"No buts." Noticing that the Dark Slayer still didn't seem completely at ease, Tara sighed. "Faith, listen to me. You can't change the past, no matter how much you try. What you can do is make the future better for yourself, which I think you have." She abandoned the bowl on the kitchen bench, moving to pull the younger girl into a hug. "You're my little sister now Faith, and there's nothing you have done or ever could do that would make me stop caring about you. Okay?"

"Okay" Faith smiled.

"Good" said Tara, releasing her and heading back to the bowl. She paused for a moment, considering. "Just don't teach Lily any more swear words. I can't be held responsible for what Willow may do to you."


	32. Jesse's Guardian Angel

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, baby Jesse, and Echo :)

AN: First snapshot to include baby Jesse, yay!

* * *

Xander Harris couldn't sleep. His mind was too full of thoughts. Happy thoughts though, even if some of them were a little scary at the same time. Thoughts about how, just two weeks ago, his life had changed forever, when his son was born. When he had become a father. It was the most amazing feeling that Xander had ever experienced.

But with that amazing feeling, already came worry. Willow and Tara were both powerful witches, and their girls were already displaying some magical ability. Sophie in particular had shown that she had the potential to be a powerful witch herself one day. On top of that, they lived with The Slayers, and a young man once known as the destroyer. Jesse, on the other hand, was the perfectly ordinary human child of two perfectly ordinary humans. Sure, his Mother used to be a demon, but that was as close to the supernatural as his DNA got. How could they protect him from the evil that ran rampant in their world? If, one day, the Scooby Gang passed the mantle of fighting said evil down to their children, what role would Jesse play? Well, Xander kind of knew the answer to that one already, and that may have been part of the problem. He knew how hard it was to be the one without powers.

At that moment, the object of Xander's worries began to cry. Beside him, Anya stirred, but he quickly quieted her.

"I'll get him, Ahn. I'm already awake."

"Mmkay" she mumbled sleepily. "But if our tiny human wants me, wake me up.."

"Will do" Xander smiled, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. He then slipped out of bed and crept across the apartment to tend to his son, only to discover he was already being tended to. Xander tensed, but relaxed just as quickly. The light given off by the small nightlight in the Nursery had been joined by the soft ethereal glow emanating from Cordelia Chase, the Scoobies' own personal link to the Powers-That-Be. She cradled baby Jesse in her arms, gently rocking him. When Anya held him, she still exhibited some of the slight fear and anxiety that came with being a new parent, but Cordy seemed to know exactly what she was doing.

"Hey there, little guy" she whispered. "I'm Auntie Cordy." Her voice was gentler than Xander remembered it from their youth, but he knew that she could still be pretty acid-tongued when she wanted to be. Cordelia looked up, smirking at him still hovering in the doorway. "Hey Xander."

"How did you know I was.." Xander began.

"I'm a Power, duh.." Cordy cut him off, rolling her eyes before looking back to Jesse. "He's a cutie. Must take after his Mom" she teased.

"Yeah." Jesse actually looked more like Xander, but he didn't think now was the time to argue that point. "Uh, it was nice of you to come see him.."

"Thanks. But, as hard as this is to believe, I'm actually here for you."

"For me?" Xander gulped. "You don't mean that in a Grim Reaper-ish way do you?"

"No, doofus" Cordelia sighed. "I'm here to give you advice. Impart some of my infinite wisdom."

"Infinite wisdom?" asked Xander, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, I have infinite wisdom now. One of the perks of being a Power" she explained, handing Jesse to Xander. "He'll have a place in the group, you know. He'll be exactly what you are."

"The Zeppo?"

"Again, no" said Cordy, sounding a little annoyed. "And anyway, I was really pissed off with you when I said that."

"You had a right to be."

"I never said I didn't. But me being the wronged party in that whole thing doesn't mean all my insults were true." She paused, sighing. "Look, we're getting a little off topic here. Jesse isn't the Zeppo. He's.."

"Don't say 'the one who sees', 'cause that didn't turn out so well for me" Xander frowned.

"No, now stop interrupting!" Cordy snapped.

"Sorry, go on."

"Okay" Cordelia took a deep breath, calming herself. "Now, like I've been trying to say the whole time, Jesse is what you are. He's the heart. And he's going to keep an eye out for his girls just like you do for yours."

"So he's gonna be surrounded by women too, huh?" Xander smirked.

"For a little while, yeah" said Cordy. "But he won't be the only boy forever."

"That's kinda comforting, I guess.."

"And as for him being safe, well, don't worry about that either" Cordelia winked. "He's in good with one of the Powers-that-be, and she's going to take extra special care of him."

"Thanks, Cordy" Xander smiled.

"Don't mention it" The Power grinned as she faded from view. "See you."

"Yeah, See you." When she was gone, Xander glanced down at his son, still smiling softly. "You're a lucky kid, you know that little guy? Auntie Cordy's really stubborn, so nobody's ever going to hurt you if she doesn't want them to.."


	33. Two Firsts For Lily

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, baby Jesse, and Echo :)

AN: A nice long chapter :)

* * *

Sophie and Lily were sitting in the middle of the lounge room, surrounded by their toys, having a little tea party. Of course, Lily wasn't quite old enough to know the correct way to behave at a tea party, was currently wearing her teacup as a hat, giggling. Tara watched them fondly from the doorway. She smiled as a familiar pair of arms circled her waist from behind and silky red hair appeared at her shoulder, indicating Willow had joined her.

"Wish Lily would put something heavier on her head" The flame-haired witch mumbled. "Then maybe she'd stop growing so fast."

"You still can't accept that she's going to be One in a few days, can you?" Tara chuckled.

"No" said Willow, pouting. "I mean, one minute she's this tiny little bundle wrapped up in a fuzzy pink blanket, then the next she's this real little person, who talks, and has her own little personality, and.. God, it can't have already been a year, can it?"

"Yep" Tara grinned, turning her head to kiss her wife's cheek. "What a year though, huh?"

"Yeah" Willow agreed. It had been a big year for the Scooby Gang. Lily had been born, Anya had been resurrected, Buffy and Faith had married, and, on the very same day that the Slayers said their vows, Anya had given birth to baby Jesse. Okay, Willow had to admit, a year, a very eventful year, had passed. But that didn't mean she was ready for her baby to be One.

"Oh my God" Tara gasped, pulling her wife from her thoughts. "Willow, look." Sophie had gone to fetch a toy that she had forgotten from her room. Lily fussed at having been left behind. But rather than attempt to crawl after her sister as she usually did, she had climbed unsteadily to her feet. Taken one, two, three shaky steps before she fell. But steps were still steps, and they were her first. Willow and Tara rushed forward, dropping to their knees and fussing over their youngest as they helped her up. Lily didn't understand what they were so excited about, but she liked the attention anyway.

"Ih-oh! Tawa!" she cooed happily.

"She wicked.. she wooked.. she walked!" Willow babbled, finally finding the right word. "She walked! I told you she was going to walk soon, didn't I?"

"You did" Tara replied, beaming.

"Ih-oh!" said Lily, sounding annoyed, as her Mother hugged her just a little too tightly.

"Oh, sorry Sweetie" said Willow, loosening her grip. "I'm just so proud of you, my big girl!"

"I thought you didn't want her to grow up" Tara smirked.

"I don't" said Willow with a frown. "But that doesn't mean I'm not proud of her milestones. Mommies are hypocritical that way."

"Will, it's okay" Tara draped an arm around her wife's shoulders, noticing she seemed slightly upset. "I don't want them to grow up too fast either."

"I know. I'll be fine" Willow smiled. "Besides, it's not like this is the last time we'll.." Realising what she was about to say, She tried to quickly backtrack, but instead descended into a babble. "I mean, I know we haven't talked about having anymore kids yet, and I'm not saying I want another one right now, in another couple of years maybe, and if you don't want another one that's fine, but.." Willow was cut off, as her longer babbles usually were, by Tara pulling her into a kiss. "I just don't feel done yet, you know?" she sighed when they broke apart.

"We're not" Tara smiled, leaning in for another kiss.

"Mommy Willow! Mama Tara!" cried Sophie, frowning, as she returned clutching Wesley Mouse in one hand, "You can't kiss like that in front of Lily! You always get mad when Auntie Buffy and Auntie Faith do it!"

"You're right sweetie, sorry" Tara laughed. "But sometimes Mommies just get a little carried away when they're happy."

"What are you happy about?" asked Sophie, curious. Willow and Tara glanced at each other, smiling, then Willow released Lily, who managed five steps this time before falling into the arms that Sophie shot out to catch her.

"She can walk!" cried Sophie, looking at her Mothers before turning her attention to her little sister, grinning. "Lily, you can walk!"

"Wok, wok!" Lily giggled.

"Lily can what?" came a squeal from upstairs. Buffy and Dawn came rushing down madly, but got tangled up with each other halfway and landed in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the staircase.

"That was your fault, Dawn" said Buffy as she got to her feet.

"My fault?" snapped Dawn. "Look who's talking Miss 'I'm about as graceful as a rhinoceros doing anything other than Slaying'."

"Why you little.." As the Summers sisters continued to argue, their significant others made their way downstairs, both rolling their eyes.

"I love her, really, but sometimes it's really hard to believe that of all the girls who would've been potentials at the time, B's the one that got picked to protect the world from all evil" said Faith.

"Hey!" said Buffy, annoyed.

"Well, I think it's hard to believe my girlfriend used to be an eons-old ball of energy, and that in human years, she's technically only seven."

"You're a pedo" Faith smirked.

"Hey!" yelled Connor and Dawn in unison.

"Pedo!" Lily giggled.

"Faith!" Willow and Tara snapped, annoyed.

* * *

Unfortunately, Faith was one of the people Lily most often mimicked. Fortunately, Sophie was the other person she most often mimicked, so, at the pleading of her Mothers, the now five and a half year old had taught her sister a new, nicer word, or rather a name, that would hopefully make her forget Faith's one. And the name Sophie chose was very appropriate, given that the person who it belonged to arrived a few days later for Lily's Birthday party. The house was filled with colourful streamers and balloons, some emblazoned with slogans like 'Happy Birthday!' '1 Today!', and simply '1'. All the curtains were kept shut, as Angel, Spike, and Illyria had arrived the previous night.

When the doorbell sounded, Willow rushed excitedly to answer it, beaming at who she found there.

"Hi, Giles!" she greeted happily, throwing her arms around her beloved mentor. Behind him, Andrew was heading up the front path carrying a small stack of parcels. Xander and Anya, who had collected the two from the Airport, were parked by the curb, Xander fetching Lily's present from the boot while Anya unbuckled baby Jesse from his car seat.

"It's nice to see you too, Willow" Giles chuckled, returning the hug, before glancing over her shoulder expectantly. "Where's our Birthday girl?" As if answering Giles question, Tara appeared from the next room, carrying Lily in her arms. Then, with a smile that said more than words, she set her daughter down, watching proudly as she toddled towards Giles.

"Gampa!" Lily squealed, hugging his leg.

"Well, hello" Giles swept the little girl into his arms as his eyes misted up, slightly overwhelmed. "You are growing up, aren't you?"

"Gampa!" Lily repeated, snuggling into his chest. She then looked up, giggling, as her other party attendees made their way inside. "Adoo! Xan! Ahn! Jes!" Jessie, cradled by Anya, cooed at Lily's partial mention of his name, waving his tiny arm. Though not yet a month old, he still seemed to know who Lily was. Xander and Willow smiled at each other, already knowing that their children were going to be best friends just as they were.

"Well, now you guys are all here that's everybody" Willow grinned. "So let's get this party started, huh?"

* * *

As it was only Lily's first birthday and she therefore wouldn't remember much of it, Tara had convinced Willow not to go too overboard on the party. At that age, the simple presence of everyone who loved her was enough. The toys and other gifts she was showered with helped too. Oh, and the elaborate Willow Bear replica cake that Tara had baked for her.

"I thought you said not to go overboard!" Willow frowned, as all the other guests fussed over the cake.

"This isn't overboard, not for me" said Tara with the vary slightest air of superiority about her. "I am a pretty good cook, Will."

"Yeah, you are" Willow admitted.

"Willow, Tara!" cried Buffy, waving her camera, while Faith lit the cake's single candle and Lily bounced excitedly in her high chair, Sophie standing beside her. "Get behind them before Lily blows out her candle, I want to take a picture!" Minor squabble over the cake forgotten, the wiccas grinned, rushing where Buffy pointed.

* * *

That night, after the Birthday girl and her big sister had gone to bed, the adults, minus Xander and Anya who had taken a fussy baby Jesse home, kicked on, or rather, sat around chatting because they lived or were staying there. A certain pair of wiccas, however, were noticably separate from the rest of the group. Curled up down the end of the couch, Willow sat in Tara's lap, the pair whispering to each other and stealing the occasional kiss. Of course, as the night wore on, these 'occasional kisses' grew increasingly frequent and passionate.

"Get a room, you two" said Faith eventually. "Jeez, anyone would think you were the newlyweds, not me and B." Willow and Tara glanced at each other, then shrugged and disappeared upstairs, giggling. "I was only jokin'.." Faith frowned.

* * *

"I don't think Faith was being entirely serious, you know" said Tara with a chuckle.

"I know" said Willow as she gently pushed her wife back onto their bed, and crawling to straddle her, "But I was thinking, if we are going to have another baby one day, it can't hurt to get in a little baby making practice.."

"Nuh-uh" Tara smirked, flipping Willow so that she was hovering over her.

"I thought you wanted another one" Willow pouted.

"I do" Tara grinned, lowering her lips to Willow's. "But next time, you're gonna be pregnant.."


	34. Sophie's Secret

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, baby Jesse, and Echo :)

AN: Yes, the name of Sophie's teacher is a rederence to Tara's portrayer, Amber Benson. I considered 'Miss Hannigan' as well, but I couldn't help thinking of the mean orphanage matron from 'Annie'. No offence to Alyson though, I love all her work.

* * *

On Monday mornings in Sophie's Kindergarten class, her teacher, Miss Benson, would ask each of the children what they had done over the weekend. Sophie, who had happened to have a very interesting weekend, bounced excitedly as she patiently awaited her turn.

"Okay Sophie, you look like your about to burst there" Miss Benson chuckled. "What did you get up to this weekend?"

"Well, on Friday night there was a really big thunderstorm.." Sophie began.

"The wind broked a tree in my backyard" a boy cut in.

"James, don't interrupt when it's not your turn to speak."

"Sorry, Miss Benson" the boy apologised. Miss Benson gave an approving nod.

"Go on, Sophie."

"I don't usually sleep good in storms, so I was laying in bed awake when I heared a wierd noise at my window.."

* * *

Sophie gave a yelp as the high pitched, slightly squeaky sound reached her ears through the pelting rain, and instinctively clutched at the crucifix necklace Buffy had given her to wear for protection at night. She jumped as the sound came again, this time coupled with what sounded like scratching at the window.

"Wh-Who's there?" she asked nervously. The sound, and more scratching. "If you're a vampire, you can't come in ever!" she cried, gripping her necklace tighter. "If you're another demon, uh, you can't come in either, and if you do, my Aunties will slay you good!" This time, the sound seemed more like a a yowl. Sophie frowned, climbing out of bed and creeping towards the window. That didn't sound like a demon, it sounded like.. "A kitty!" Sophie gasped. Somehow, the kitten had managed to climb the tree near Sophie's window, and leap from it onto her window sill. The little girl jerked the window open, pulling the poor animal inside before quickly closing it again. The kitten's soaked fur accentuated it's thin, bony frame, obviously a stray. It's coat was black and white, and, at a healthier weight, would have resembled her Mother's old cat Miss Kitty Fantastico, but Sophie wasn't to know that yet. She quickly rushed to fetch a towel to wrap it up in. "Sorry I thought you were a demon, kitty" she said, hugging the poor creature to her chest. "Don't worry, I'll look after you now."

* * *

The next morning, Sophie sat on her bed, frowning, while the kitten lay curled at her feet, purring.

"I think my Mommies like cats" Sophie sighed. "I'm not sure if they likes them enough to let me keep you though, so we're gonna have to hide you from them for a while, okay?" As soon as these words were out of her out of her mouth, Sophie heard Willow's footsteps padding down the hallway towards her bedroom. The first thing either one of her Mothers did in the morning was check on their children, but Sophie could tell it was Willow this time due to the magical connection she shared with them. The little girl swept her new furry friend into her arms and bolted for her closet, hiding the kitten inside seconds before Willow entered the room.

"Good morning!" she greeted her daughter cheerily.

"Good morning, Mommy Willow" said Sophie a little nervously. If Willow noticed, she didn't comment on it.

"So, any special requests for breakfast?"

"I'm not that hungry.."

"Just some cereal then?" Willow asked.

"Uh-huh!" Sophie eagerly agreed. If she had cereal, she could try and sneak some of her left over milk to the kitten!

* * *

Not too much later, Sophie sat eating a bowl of Cheerios, while on the other side of the table, Tara sat trying to feed Lily, who was rather fussy this morning.

"Come on Lily, open wide for Mama Tara.."

"No!" said Lily, turning her head away.

"Please?"

"No!"

"Who taught her that word?" Tara sighed.

"Buffy" answered Willow, munching on a slice of toast. "Yesterday, when Dawn wanted to borrow a shirt."

"Oh, right." As her parents continued trying to feed her sister, Sophie glanced at the milk remaining in her bowl, then took it and quietly crept back upstairs.

"No!" said Lily, once again avoiding the spoon that Tara waved at her.

"Here, let me try" said Willow, taking the bowl and spoon from her wife. "Look Lily, Sophie's eating her breakfast. Don't you want to grow up big and strong like her?"

"Um, Will?" Tara frowned as she looked around.

"Mmhmm?"

"Sophie's gone."

* * *

"There you go, kitty" Sophie smiled, offering the bowl to the kitten who eagerly lapped up it's contents. Of course, Sophie was quickly forced to shove both it and the bowl back in her closet when Willow once again entered the room, followed by Tara with Lily on her hip. The way her little sister's eyes immediately fixed on the closet door made Sophie nervous.

"Are you feeling okay, Sophie?" asked Willow, concerned.

"Uh-huh" Sophie nodded quickly.

"Are you sure?" frowned Tara. "You seem a little off this morning." As she spoke, Tara hiked Lily up higher, putting the one-year old in reach of the closet door handle, which she quickly took hold of.

"Lily, don't!" Sophie cried, but it was too late. Lily jerked the closet open, and the kitten padded out, promptly beginning to rub itself against Willow's leg.

"What the.."

"She jumped onto my window sill in the storm!" Sophie wailed. "I couldn't just leave her out there!"

"She?" asked Willow, picking the kitten up and inspecting it.

"Uh.." Sophie blushed, a little embarassed. "I don'ts know how to tell."

"You're right, it is a girl" Willow nodded. "God, she's skin and bones. Tara, could you go get her something?"

"Sure" Tara nodded, setting Lily down, before heading downstairs to the kitchen. Sophie glared at her sister, annoyed with her for the first time since she had been born. Lily, oblivious, just giggled. Tara returned a few minutes later with a bowl of chopped up mince meat, which thekitten greedily devoured.

"She looks just like Miss Kitty" Willow whispered to her wife. "Doesn't she look just like Miss Kitty?"

"Yeah" Tara agreed. When the kitten had finished eating, it padded over to Sophie, purring. "Well" said Tara seriously, "I think it's obvious what we have to do now."

"What?" asked Sophie, dreading the answer.

"We have to buy her a collar" Tara replied, a smile spreading over her face.

"You mean we can keep her?" said Sophie joyfully.

"Of course we can" said Tara.

"Welcome to the family, Miss Kitty Fantastico the 2nd!" Willow grinned, sweeping the kitten into her arms.

"That's a weird name, Mommy Willow" Sophie frowned.

"Well, who ever said we were normal?" said Willow, giggling as Miss Kitty the 2nd swatted at her hair, just as the original Miss Kitty had done years before.

* * *

"..And that's what I did on the weekend!" Sophie finished, beaming.


	35. The Proper Order Of Things

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, baby Jesse, and Echo :)

* * *

Willow Rosenberg had been having a very nice, peaceful afternoon. She was sitting on the sofa reading a book, and sipping a cup of tea, while Miss Kitty Fantastico The 2nd lay curled on her lap. The previously neglected, malnourished kitten had slotted perfectly into the family, even Echo had taken to her. Tara said this wasn't surprising. A tiny kitten, who looked almost _exactly _like their first Miss Kitty Fantastico, climbing a tree during a storm and ending up outside their daughter's bedroom window? That couldn't just be a coincidence, she was obviously meant to be with them.

Unfortunately, Willow's peace was shattered when Sophie, recently returned from school, marched into the room.

"Mommy Willow" she announced, "I need to ask you about babies." Willow almost spat out her tea, but quickly swallowed it instead.

"What do want to know?" she asked, trying to hide her sudden panic. "_Oh boy, I thought I'd have at least another couple of years before I had to worry about this question."_

"Well, James was teasing Nicky and Emma at lunchtime" Sophie began, climbing into Willow's lap and shifting Miss Kitty the 2nd to her own. "They always play together, always, and he was calling them boyfriend and girlfriend. He was saying 'Nicky and Emma sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n..'"

"Yeah, I've heard that one before" Willow interrupted, not entirely understanding where her daughter was going with this.

"Then you know the second part says 'first comes love, then comes Marriage, then comes the baby in a golden carriage'?"

"Uh-huh.."

"How come Uncle Xander and Auntie Anya did it in the wrong order?"

"Sophie" Willow chuckled. "That rhyme isn't a 'to do' list for life. Nowadays, people just do things in the order that works best for them. Uncle Xander and Auntie Anya tried to get married once, but it didn't work for them at the time. They weren't ready, and they ended up breaking up because of it."

"They did?" said Sophie, eyes wide.

"They did" Willow nodded. "Then, when Auntie Anya came back to life, they had Jesse, and that's worked out great for them. Maybe one day they will get married, maybe they won't, but that's fine too. And hey, you came along a while before Mama Tara and I got married."

"But you didn't choose that.." Sophie sighed. Willow frowned at her daughter's words.

"We wouldn't change it for anything."

"You wouldn't?"

"No." Suddenly, an image of the tiny, neglected, screaming baby she'd once held in her arms, who had grown into the adorable little girl currently perched in her lap flashed in Willow's mind, and she felt that she needed to amend that statement slightly. "Well, maybe there's one thing I'd change.."

"What?" Sophie frowned.

"Well, I wish I could have taken you away from the demons sooner, or that you'd never had to be with them at all. Then we would have been able to see your first smile, and heard your first laugh.." Willow paused, swallowing the lump in her throat. Thinking of the parts of Sophie's life that she had missed always left her close to tears. "But you know, then I might not have got your Mama Tara back, and without your Mama Tara, we wouldn't have Lily.."

"And sometimes the not so happy parts of the story gotta happen before the really happy parts" said Sophie.

"Exactly" Willow smiled, hugging the little girl closer.

"So.. babies don't come from golden carriages?"

"No" Willow chuckled.

"Where do they come from?"

"I'll tell you in 100 years."

"That's a real long time.." Sophie pouted.

"Maybe we can bargain down to 50.."


	36. Hide And Wait And Seek

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, baby Jesse, and Echo :)

* * *

It was an ordinary afternoon in the Scooby household. Connor was on the phone to Angel, Dawn leaning against his shoulder. Willow and Tara were proudly looking over Sophie's first set of school photos, deciding where to put them. Sophie was running around upstairs. Echo and Miss Kitty the 2nd curled together on the sofa, a perfect picture of feline-canine harmony. Buffy was sitting beside them, wittling stakes. Faith was _supposed _to be helping her, but she'd gone AWOL a while ago. So, frustrated, she headed off to search for her wife.

Buffy's search, aided by her Slayer connection to Faith, led her upstairs, to the bathroom. Since she couldn't see her sister Slayer anywhere, she was confused, until she spotted a rather bumpy pile of towels in the bath tub, and, feeling the familiar tingle of their bond, chuckled, pulling them back.

"B!" Faith whispered, annoyed, while Lily, clutched against her chest, giggled. "We're hidin' from Little Red, put those back!"

"You really think Sophie's going to fall for that?" asked Buffy.

"She has before" Faith shrugged. Footsteps padded down the hallway. "She's coming! Quick, cover us up!" Buffy laughed, but did so, then busied herself pretending to wash her hands, playing along with her wife's game. A few seconds later, Sophie came in and looked around, eyes settling on the pile of towels. Buffy waited for her to look under them, but was surprised when her niece turned to her instead.

"Auntie Buffy" she asked, "Have you seen Lily and Auntie Faith anywhere?"

"No" said Buffy, trying to keep the surprise from her voice. Under the towels, Lily giggled, and Faith shushed her. Sophie glanced at them again, then turned back to Buffy.

"Okay" she said, skipping from the room. Buffy frowned. Sophie was a smart kid, she couldn't possibly be that bad at Hide-and-Seek. Something was up. Buffy followed her out

"Sophie" she began, opening her mouth, but, as if knowing what she was going to say, Sophie took her aunt's hand and led her further down the hall, out of range of Faith's Slayer hearing.

"I know where they are."

"Why didn't you find them then?" asked Buffy, confused.

"Well, I knows Auntie Faith never really played hide and seek when she was little, 'cause she didn't have any brothers and sisters, or friends to play it with" Sophie explained. "So sometimes, when I plays it with her, I let her stay hiding longer even when I know where she is, to let her think she's good at it."

"Yep, you've done it again" Buffy chuckled, sweeping her niece into her arms and hugging her tight. "My heart just melted a little."

"Is that bad?" Sophie frowned.

"No" Buffy smiled, putting her down. "You better go 'find' your Auntie Faith now. We don't want her getting a big head, do we?"

"No" Sophie giggled, running back tothe bathroom. Moments later, she re-emerged, followed by Faith, with Lily toddling along behind.

"Did you rat us out, B?" Faith frowned.

"No" said Buffy, trying to keep a straight face. Faith smirked, then shrugged.

"Eh, I'm gonna chase you anyway." She charged at Buffy, who squealed and bolted.

"Auntie Buffy and Auntie Faith are silly sometimes" Sophie giggled. "But we love them."

"Uv B, uv Fai'!" said Lily with a smile. Sophie smiled back, then took her sister's hand to lead her downstairs.

"I think it's lunchtime. Let's go see if Mama Tara will make us something."

"Tawa!"

* * *

Willow and Tara, having heard the crashing and banging of the Slayers running around, met their daughters at the bottom of the stairs.

"What happened?" cried Willow, scooping Lily into her arms. "Is something attacking?"

"Ih-oh!" Lily giggled, oblivious to her Mother's distress.

"No" Sophie replied. "Auntie Buffy and Auntie Faith just decided to play Chasey."

"Why?" asked Willow, confused.

"Do you really want to know?" said Tara, raising an eyebrow.

"Well," said Willow, "Knowing those two, no, I'm not sure I do.." At that moment, the two Slayers appeared at the top of the stairs, Faith catching Buffy's arm just in time to keep her from tumbling down them, then, with a wicked grin, pulled her back for a kiss. A very passionate kiss, with hands beginning to travel to places hands shouldn't go when people are watching.

"Guys!" snapped Willow, annoyed. "Children right here you know!"

"Sorry, Will" said Buffy sheepishly.

"Hey" said Dawn, approaching with Connor, who was just saying goodbye to Angel, "Is there a party on the staircase we didn't know about?"

"No.. Well, maybe. I'm not really sure what's going on" said Willow.

"Okay" said Connor, clicking off the phone, "Since we're all together, it seems like a good time to ask.. Who's up for a trip to L.A this Summer?"

* * *

AN: And there you go! The next few snapshots after this will be set in L.A, with this universe's surviving fang gang.


	37. The Stranger Outside

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, baby Jesse, and Echo :)

AN: Here it is, the first vacation snapshot! Not completeley sure how many of these there'll be, but I do know what will happen, and some of it's gonna be big! Also, I don't know how long a drive from Cleveland to L.A would actually be, so just humour me.

* * *

"Xander" Anya whined as they drove along, headed for L.A, baby Jesse nestled safely in his seat. The need for infant car-seats was what had prompted the Scoobies to take three cars on this trip. "Are we there yet?"

"No, Ahn" Xander sighed.

"Are we almost there?"

"No" Xander repeated.

"Well, how long until we get there then?" Anya frowned.

"It'll be a few more hours" said Xander. "Try not to be too impatient, okay?"

"Okay.." Anya pouted. "But it's hard! I can't do anything fun with you because you're driving, I don't have any money to count or fondle, and I can't even cuddle Jesse 'cause he's stuck back there, and I can't take him out because I'd be putting his tiny human life in danger!" She looked over the back of the seat and stretched her arm as far as she could, then dropped it, sighing in defeat. "I can't even touch him from here!"

Xander, touched by Anya's distress at not being able to hold their son, looked around, and then, like a gift from above, spotted a rest stop, and turned off into it. Anya gave him a confused look.

"We would have had to stop and feed him soon anyway" said Xander with a smile, gesturing to little Jesse. "Might as well just do it now since there's a rest stop here. And you can have your baby cuddles at the same time. It's win-win!" Anya grinned and kissed him, then leapt out of the car to run and fetch Jesse from the backseat. As Xander got out of the car himself, he saw the other two cars pull up beside his, one carrying Buffy, Faith, Dawn, Connor, and Echo, the other carrying Willow, Tara, the girls, and Miss Kitty Fantastico the 2nd. "Hey guys, what brings you all here?"

"We saw you stop and thought we should take Echo for a toilet break" Buffy explained, while Faith led the dog off to a patch of grass.

"We just stopped 'cause we saw the rest of you stop" said Willow.

"And we wanted to get some fresh air" Sophie added, setting Miss Kitty the 2nd's carrier on the hood of the car so the kitten could partake of the fresh air as well.

"Yes, that too" Tara chuckled, lifting Lily out of her carseat.

"Isn't this exciting?" Willow grinned, cuddling up to Tara's side. "Our first big trip since Lily was born!"

"Eh?" Lily perked up at the sound of hr name.

"Yes, you" Willow laughed, ruffling her daughter's hair.

"Ih-oh!" Lily cooed, grabbing at Willow's fingers. Willow beamed as she took her from Tara's arms.

"Hey Lil, look at that big playground over there!" she said. "You wanna go play?"

"'Phie?" asked Lily, pointing to her sister.

"Yeah, Sophie'll come too, won't you kiddo?"

"Uh-huh!" Sophie replied eagerly, dashing off towards the play equipment. "Race you there, Mommy Willow!"

"No fair!" Willow pouted, running after her. "It's hard to race when you're holding a baby!" Tara smiled after her family, then turned to Xander and Anya.

"How's Jesse? I don't know how Lily would have gone on such a big trip when she was his age."

"Yeah, how is my favourite little nephew?" asked Dawn, reaching for the baby.

"He's fine, he's perfect" said Anya as she jerked him away, making Dawn frown. "You can't have him right now."

"Anya's just having a 'Mom' moment" Xander explained with a chuckle. "See, this car ride was the longest she's gone without holding him, so.."

"I get it" Tara smiled. "Let her be, Dawnie. You can have a cuddle when we get there."

"Okay" Dawn grumbled.

* * *

After everyone had stretched their legs, they piled back into their cars for the remainder of the trip. When they reached the Hyperion, outside they were greeted warmly by Giles and Andrew, who arrived the day before and had been waiting for them. Inside they were greeted just as warmly by Angel, and slightly less so by Spike. Illyria seemed indifferent to their arrival, aside from that of Sophie, to whom the God-King flashed a half smile.

* * *

Late that night, Sophie woke, feeling something slightly amiss. Knowing that Lily usually shared her feelings with this sort of thing, she glanced over at her sister, who still slept soundly in the port-a-cot beside her bed, seemingly undisturbed. Still, Sophie felt that something wasn't quite right, and, following this feeling, she climbed out of bed and crept over to the window, quickly finding the source of her problem. A figure was standing uncomfortably outside, face obscured by a hood. Sophie was remarkably unafraid, sensing that this person, whoever they were, didn't mean any harm. So, instead of bothering her sleeping Mothers or Aunties with this unusual occurence, she elected to inform her nocturnal vampire Uncles instead.

* * *

"Uncle Angel, Uncle Spike!" At the sound of Sophie's voice, Angel instantly looked up from the book he was reading. Spike took a few more seconds to tear his eyes away from a 'Passions' re-run. "There's a strange person standing outside!"

"What do they look like?" asked Angel, concerned.

"I don't know" said Sophie. "I couldn't see his face." Angel shared a look with Spike, and the two vamps headed out to investigate. "Don't hurt him!" Sophie called after them. "He doesn't want to hurt us.."

* * *

They returned a few minutes later.

"There's nobody out there" said Angel, sounding strangely disappointed.

"But I'm sure I sawed.." Sophie began.

"Probably just your eyes tricking you" said Spike quickly. "Go back to bed kiddo."

"Okay" Sophie frowned, reluctantly heading back upstairs. Something was going on here. Who was the stranger outside?


	38. An Awkward Family Outing

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, baby Jesse, and Echo :)

* * *

"Willow" Tara whispered, gently shaking her wife's shoulder in an attempt to rouse her. "Willow, Sweetie, wake up."

"I don't wanna" Willow rolled over and pulled the covers over her head, grumbling in protest.

"Come on, sleepy head" Tara chuckled, pulling the covers back and leaning down to kiss her cheek. "You were the one who didn't want to waste our first family vacation. The girls have been up for an hour, Giles is downstairs with them."

"Leave them for a while, then" Willow mumbled sleepily. "Giles loves playing Grandpa."

"Okay" Tara smirked, "I didn't want to have to do this, but.." She began tickling Willow's stomach.

"Okay, okay, I'll get up!" she gasped between giggles. "Just stop, s-stop!" Willow's foot struck out involuntarily, catching Tara in the stomach and sending her tumbling onto the floor. "Oh my God, Tara!" cried Willow, leaping out of bed and rushing to her wife's side. "I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine" Tara replied, rubbing her back. "At least you finally woke up."

"Yeah.. But you know, for future reference, we probably shouldn't tickle next time one of us is pregnant, just to avoid any accidents, okay?"

"Okay" Tara chuckled, kissing her cheek.

* * *

_"..today's the day the teddy bears have their picnic!" _Sang a chorus of voices as Willow and Tara reached the bottom of the stairs. It seemed that in the hour since Giles and the girls had got up, so had everybody else. Giles was currently performing some sort of puppet show with Sophie and Lily's Tara and Willow bears. Buffy and Faith each sat cross-legged on the floor, with Lily in Buffy's lap and Sophie in Faith's. Echo and Miss Kitty The 2nd lay side by side between them. Xander and Anya were huddled together on the couch with baby Jesse. Connor and Dawn were in the kitchen, throwing soapy water at each other while attempting to wash last night's dishes. Andrew had unfortunately been caught in the cross-fire. Angel sat in a corner, brooding. Illyria watched Giles' show, confused but interested. Spike just looked bored. Willow and Tara smiled at them, then each other. The group was about as non-traditional as you could get, but they were family, and the witches wouldn't have traded them for anything.

"Good Morning Mommy Willow, good morning Mama Tara!" Sophie greeted cheerily.

"Ih-oh, Tawa!" Lily cooed. Buffy released her, letting her toddle over to be scooped into Tara's waiting arms.

"Good morning, girls" said Giles warmly. "Do either of you have any theories on who our mysterious visitor might have been?"

"Mysterious visitor?" Willow frowned. "What mysterious visitor?"

"Uh, the guy hangin' out under your kids' bedroom window?" replied Faith, raising an eyebrow.

"There was a guy hanging out under my kids' window?" cried Willow in panic. "Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"We thought Tara was going to tell you" said Buffy. Willow turned to her wife, who had suddenly become very interested in fixing Lily's socks.

"You knew about this and you didn't tell me?"

"I was going to, really, I was just waiting for the right moment" Tara explained. "See, you do have a tendency to overreact to little things.."

"You call this little?" Willow yelled.

"Sophie said he wasn't dangerous" Tara shrugged.

"He's not" Sophie piped up.

"And she's never been wrong before, so I trust her."

"But.."

"The rest of us have come to the same conclusion, Willow" said Giles, cutting her off.

"Yeah" Faith added. "You think I'd just be sittin' around if the kids were in danger?" Willow opened her mouth to argue, but stopped. She had to admit that The Dark Slayer had a point. Faith was second, and very closely so, only to Tara and herself in desiring to keep their children safe.

"Well.. okay. But we're still trying to work out who or what this guy is, right?"

"Right" said Buffy with a nod.

"And if he comes back you'll tell me right away this time?"

"Sure" said Xander.

"Okay" said Willow, taking a breath to calm her slightly frazzled nerves. "Okay. Come on Sophie, we're taking you and your sister to the Toy Store."

"But Mommy Willow.." Sophie frowned.

"What? I thought you'd like to go to the Toy Store."

"I would, but you and Mama Tara are still in your jammies."

"Oh" Willow blushed, embarassed.

"I did not think it was appropriate for humans to venture into public areas while dressed in nightclothes" said Illyria, cocking her head in confusion.

"It's not" said Willow, blushing even redder, as she grabbed Tara's hand and headed back upstairs. "We'll, uh, be back in a few minutes."

* * *

After that minor hiccup, they were on their way. At the store, Sophie chose a plush black panther which she quickly dubbed 'Charles' (This confused her parents until they remembered Gunn's first name), while Willow and Tara bought Lily a little toy piano. As they left the store, intending to head to a nearby Ice-Cream Parlour, Willow suddenly yelped and ducked behind Tara.

"Run. Now."

"Run from what?" asked Tara, confused. Willow pointed, and Tara quickly saw what had her wife in such a panic. Her parents. Tara had only met them twice, and, since neither of them had ever come to terms with their daughter's change in sexuality, both occasions had been extremely uncomfortable.

"Okay, there's the problem, now let's go before they see us and we end up in the most awkward situation ever!" Willow attempted to flee with Lily's stroller, but Tara stopped her.

"Hang on, Will. Don't you think maybe it's time you faced them?" asked Tara gently.

"Well.." Willow hesitated.

"You can run from the past all you wants, but eventually, it's gonna come back and bite you on the butt" said Sophie, drawing looks of surprise from her Mothers. "What? I heard Auntie Faith say it."

"Figures" Willow mumbled. "But I guess she does have a point.." It was lucky that Willow had come to this realisation, because by now, her parents had spotted them, and it was too late to run.

"Willow!" Sheila Rosenberg called.

"Hi, Mom" Willow forced a smile as she turned to face her parents, squeezing Tara's hand for comfort. "Hi, Dad. Been a long time, huh?"

"Too long, Dear" said Sheila, pulling Willow into an awkward hug. "Oh, we have so much to catch up on!" she continued, glancing over her daughter's shoulder at Tara, Sophie, and Lily.

"Obviously" said Ira with a small frown.

"Would you like to join us for lunch?"

"Uh.." Willow looked to Tara, who shrugged, leaving the decision to her. "Sure. Why not?"

* * *

Of course, it soon became clear that there were many reasons why this was not a good idea. One of these reasons was Willow and Tara having a few minutes to dream up an edited for the non magically inclined story of the past few years, and immediately having to tell that story without any sort of rehearsal, then being faced with numerous awkward questions about where Tara had been while she was 'dead', the nature of their relationship, and their children's 'Father'.

"Okay" said Sheila with a confused look, after they'd been through everything a third time, "Let's see if we understand this. Taylor here.."

"It's Tara, Mom" Willow frowned.

"Sorry, Tara, never actually died?"

"No. She was in witness protection."

"Because she accidently busted some drug smugglers" said Ira, raising an eyebrow.

"And then she.."

"Tara's right here Mom" said Willow, becoming annoyed. "Don't talk like she isn't." Tara blushed, and Sheila turned to her awkwardly before continuing.

"_You _came back."

"Y-Yes" Tara stuttered.

"And you moved in with your little friends Bunny and Fay.."

"Buffy and Faith" Willow corrected, again.

"Of course. Then you had your little Civil Union.."

"Uh-huh" Willow sighed. She would have argued, but she knew it was pointless to make her parents see her relationship with Tara as a Marriage when, legally speaking, it wasn't, yet, despite the fact that they were married in every other sense of the word, and saw themselves as such.

"And you had two children without telling us" Ira frowned as he looked at Sophie and Lily, who both tried to duck under the table.

"I tried to tell you!" The fact that she very nearly hadn't was beside the point. "I sent a letter with our Wedding invitation which you never replied to, and the three Birthday Party invitations which you also never replied to, which now I know is because you, oh, moved again without remembering to tell me or leaving a forwarding address!"

"Willow, that was an accident" said Sheila. "It was just a little slip, we could have sworn we told you.."

"Okay, but you see why I'm upset, right?" Willow frowned. Obviously not. Ira rolled his eyes, thinking his daughter was being completely unreasonable.

"You have to understand that it was a very busy time, and sometimes things are overlooked."

"Yeah, sure I understand" Willow stood up. She understood that it was wrong to 'overlook' telling your only child that you were moving, no matter how long you'd gone without seeing them. "We had some other plans for today, so.."

"You can't leave yet, you haven't eaten" said Sheila. "Besides, we'd like to get to know our grandchildren a little." She reached over to pinch Lily's cheeks. "Would'nt you like to spend some time with your Grandma and Grandpa, Milly?" Before anyone could correct Sheila's latest mistake, Lily batted her hand away.

"No!" she yelled, her tiny face looking angrier than either her parents or sister had ever seen it. "You no Gamma! You no Gampa! No!"

"'Sides, we already have a Grandpa, and he doesn't get our names wrong" added Sophie with a frown, before pointing to her still grumpy looking little sister. "Her name is _Lily_, not Milly!"

"But.. what.. I.." Sheila sputtered.

"Aren't you going to say something to them?" frowned Ira looking insulted. Willow shook her head, chuckling.

"No."

"What?"

"Well for one thing, Lily's only a year old, so I couldn't control anything she said even if I wanted to. And I don't want to, because they're right."

"But.."

"No buts, Mr. Rosenberg" said Tara, regaining her voice. "They've never met you before today. To them, you're not their Grandparents. You're not anything."

"If you want to be, you can come find us." Willow scooped Sophie into her arms and headed for the exit, Tara following with Lily's stroller. Sophie blew a rasberry over her Mother's shoulder as they left.

* * *

"Grandpa!"

"Gampa!"

Giles looked up from the book he was reading, beaming as the two girls flew into his lap.

"Good Lord! What's all this about?" he chuckled. As Sophie launched into her explanation of the day's events, Willow and Tara looked on, smiling.

"Are you okay?" Tara asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her wife's ear.

"I'm proud" Willow grinned. "Our girls know who their family is."

"I meant how do you feel" Tara prodded slightly. "About your parents."

"Like I said, if they care enough, they can find me" Willow shrugged, leaning her head on Tara's shoulder. "If they don't, well, I've got all the family I need right here."

Nobody noticed the melancholic, hooded figure slipping away from the window..


	39. The Watcher, The Gym, And The Jellyfish

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, baby Jesse, and Echo :)

AN: The events of the next couple of chapters all take place at around the same time, and will converge in the chapter after that. Enjoy!

* * *

"And where exactly are we goin' again?" asked Faith, a little confused, as she left the Hyperion with Buffy and Echo, the dog's leash clutched firmly in her hand.

"I grew up in L.A, remember?" Buffy chuckled, taking her wife's other hand and kissing her cheek. "I'm taking you on the 'Buffy's childhood dream tour', with some bits of 'The time Buffy ran away for three months and didn't tell anyone where I was going' thrown in. Not my finest hour I'll admit, but I saved a lot of lives in the end, so I guess it was a fair trade off.."

* * *

"Ah, here we are" Buffy smiled, stopping in front of a large building that was familiar to both of them. "Hemery High, my first high school."

"Yeah, I know" said Faith, looking around. "I've been here before."

"You have?" Buffy frowned, confused. "When?"

"The whole time travel thing" said Faith, pointing to a gate a little way down from where they were standing. "I saw you comin' out of school, right there."

"Cool" Buffy grinned. "Well, see that step out the front there? That was where I met my first Watcher, Merrick, and he told me that I was the Slayer. I thought the guy was nuts." Faith raised an eyebrow, surprised.

"You had another Watcher before Giles? He retire or somethin'?"

"No" Buffy shook her head, and the sadness in her voice let Faith know what had happened. "He was killed by a vampire named Lothos. I don't really like to talk about it." Faith understood, and didn't push the matter any further. She didn't like talking about her Watcher's death either. Buffy quickly changed the subject. "Oh, see over there by that tree? That's where the Gym used to be, before I burnt it down. And that path there, that's where I had to do the walk of shame to Mom's car after I got kicked out of School for burning down the Gym."

"Damn, and my School thought I was bad" Faith chuckled. "At least I never set fire to any of it!"

"How many times do I have to explain this!" Buffy cried, throwing her arms in the air. "That Gym was full of vampires!"

"Sure it was, B" Faith smirked.

"It was, really!"

* * *

Next, the Chosen Two called past the apartment building that Buffy had lived in during her Summer away, the diner she had worked at, and a mall she'd used to frequent before moving to Sunnydale.

"So, where to next, B?" Faith asked as they walked down the street, Echo padding along just ahead, occasionally stopping to sniff at something.

"Well, I told Willow and Tara that we'd meet up with them and the girls at the beach" said Buffy, "So I was thinking we'd start heading there now, unless there's somewhere else you'd like to go first?"

"Nah, the beach sounds great" Faith grinned. Buffy smiled, she hadn't expected any objections. Faith almost never passed up a chance to spend time with her precious nieces. "Damn, have the kids ever been to a beach before? I don't think they have, we didn't take 'em last time we were here.."

* * *

It was, in fact, the girls' first time at the beach, and both were loving it. Willow watched Tara and Sophie in the water splashing each other, while Lily sat beside her, playing in the sand.

"Ih-oh" said Lily, drawing her Mother's attention.

"Yeah, Sweetie?"

"Uv u" said Lily with a smile, opening her little arms.

"Aww, I love you too baby" said Willow, pulling her into her lap for a hug. Lily squealed excitedly, pointing over her Mother's shoulder.

"B! Fai'!"

"Hey, guys" Willow grinned, turning and waving to her approaching friends. "What took you so long?"

"Give us a break, Will" Buffy chuckled. "I told you there were some other places we wanted to go first."

"B!" Lily wriggled out of Willow's grasp, toddling towards her favourite aunt. "B, B!"

"Hi, Lily" Buffy cooed, scooping the little girl into her arms.

"Hey there, Lilypad" said Faith, lightly ruffling her hair. "You havin' a nice day at the beach?"

"B!" Lily said again, snuggling up to Buffy's shoulder.

"Yeah, she's not quite up to answering questions yet" Willow shrugged.

"Ah, that's okay, plenty of time for that" said Faith, stooping to unclip Echo's leash, at which point the dog bolted into the surf towards Sophie and Tara. The dog's presence alerted the pair to the Slayer's arrival, and they looked up, waving cheerily. Faith waved back, then having worn her swimsuit under her clothes on the suspicion that their day may end at the beach seeing as they were in Los Angeles and all, stripped down and ran into the water to join them.

"So, where did you go exactly?" asked Willow, as Buffy sat down beside her.

"Well.."

* * *

Buffy and Willow were having a nice little chat, watching their wives play with Sophie and Echo. Or at least they were, until Tara suddenly let out a cry of pain, and the next thing they knew, Faith, who may have been slightly over-reacting, was bolting from the water with Tara in her arms and Sophie clinging around her neck like a monkey, Echo running along behind them.

"Oh my God, what happened?" cried Willow, grabbing Lily before she and Buffy ran to the spot where Faith was setting Tara down on the sand.

"Jellyfish" Tara winced, indicating the angry red welt appearing on her ankle.

"Okay" said Willow, trying not to panic. "It's okay, we just have to.."

"Pee on it!" yelled Faith, about to pull down her bikini bottoms.

"What? No!" cried Willow, disgusted.

"Eew!" said Sophie.

"I'm with you, Soph" said Buffy, nose wrinkling. Faith halted her actions.

"We have to get you back to the Hotel" said Willow, handing Lily to Buffy and helping Tara to her feet, deciding to pretend Faith's suggestion had never happened. "We made that ointment with vervain in it, remember?" The witches headed for their car, with Sophie close behind.

"You weren't really going to pee on her, were you?" asked Buffy, turning to Faith.

"Hey, I saw it in an episode of 'Friends' once" Faith shrugged.


	40. Spike's Little Rebel

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, Lily, Jesse, and Echo :)

* * *

While Buffy and Faith had been on their little tour of the city, and Willow and Tara had their family day at the beach, Spike had been having a rather uneventful morning watching 'Passions'. At least until Anya had marched downstairs and shoved the baby carrier currently housing Jesse into his arms.

"You need to watch my tiny human for a while. Bye." She turned and headed for the staircase.

"Hold it, love!" Spike called after her. "You can't just come and shove a baby at me without any warning!"

"Why not?" Anya huffed. "You're not doing anything important."

"That's not the point!" Spike cried. Jesse fussed, and the vamp instinctively rocked him. "Surely there's better people for the job than me."

"Nearly everyone's gone out, Angel's sleeping, And I am _not _leaving him with Illyria."

"Fair enough.. But where are you going that you can't take the kid with you?"

"I'm not going anywhere" said Anya. Spike opened his mouth, but she quickly cut him off. "Xander and I need some alone time. I love Jesse, really, but Xander won't give me orgasms when he's around."

"Well.." Spike shook his head, wondering what the hell he had let himself in for, then relented. "Alright. But only for an hour or two."

Anya squealed happily and rushed back towards the stairs, then paused.

"Don't eat him, okay?"

"I won't" Spike sighed, setting the baby carrier beside him on the couch.

* * *

Luckily for Spike, Jesse had decided to be very well-behaved. When 'Passions' famous living doll, Timmy, appeared on the TV screen, he gurgled and waved his arms, trying to push himself forward for a better look. Not feeling right to just watch him struggle, Spike lifted the baby boy out of his carrier, tilting him so he could see the screen.

"That's Timmy" said Spike.

Jesse gurgled happily.

"You like him, huh?"

Jesse giggled.

"I like him too." The vamp's face softened as he looked at the baby in his arms. "You are a cute little fella, I'll give you that, even if you are a mini Xander." Although, Spike was beginning to notice as he spent time with him, Jesse showed many hints of Anya in his expressions. "You know, kid" Spike mused, moving the baby to meet his eyes, "One day, when you become a teenager, you're gonna want to rebel against your parents. I know it seems crazy now since you're still so tiny and helpless and dependant, but trust me it will happen."

Jesse blinked.

"Anyway" Spike continued, "When that day comes, there's a few things I can teach you. Added bonus, your Dad hates me. So, we have a deal?"

Jesse grabbed Spike's nose.

"Okay, deal" The vamp chuckled. "And until then, we can just watch 'Passions'."

Jesse giggled.

* * *

Outside, Willow and Faith were helping Tara towards the door of the hotel, while Sophie and Buffy walked behind them, the Slayer holding Lily, the little girl clutching Echo's leash.

"Guys, the jellyfish stung my ankle, it didn't break it" Tara chuckled. "I can walk perfectly fine."

"We know, we're just being careful" said Willow. Seeing as how her Wife had already died once, and she had no desire to see it happen again any time soon, Willow could be as protective of Tara as she was of their children.

"Take it as a compliment, T" Faith grinned. "We love ya too much to to take any chances."

They had just about reached the door, when Buffy spotted the hooded figure that had been haunting them through their vacation so far sneaking around the side of the building.

"Faith!" she yelled, pointing.

Realising he had been spotted, the figure bolted, but Faith was right on his tail.

"Auntie Faith, wait!" cried Sophie in panic, dragging Echo along as she raced after them.

"Sophie, come back here!" yelled Willow, rushing after her daughter.

Being no match for her Slayer speed, Faith quickly caught up with the figure and tackled them to the ground, raising her fist.

"Auntie Faith, don't hurt him!" cried Sophie, puffing, as she finally caught up.

Luckily, Faith had already halted her punch when the figure had thrown up a pair of green hands to protect himself, before his hood had fallen back.

"Lorne?"


	41. Welcome Home

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, Lily, Jesse, and Echo :)

AN: This chapter is dedicated to Andy Hallet. R.I.P

* * *

"Hey, Faithy" Lorne smiled sheepishly.

"What the Hell, dude?" Faith yelled, climbing off the demon and pulling him to his feet. "We could have killed you! Why have you been sneakin' around like that?"

"Well.."

"Lorne?" Willow skidded to a halt as she arrived on the scene, confused.

"What the hell is going on here?" Buffy frowned, approaching with Lily and Tara. "Faith, why are you helping the creepy stalker demon?"

"No, no, you've got the wrong idea.." the demon began.

"Buffy, this is Lorne" Faith introduced him by way of explanation for her behaviour. "Lorne, meet Buffy."

"The 'I can read your destiny when you sing' guy?" Buffy frowned. Faith nodded.

"He looked after Auntie Faith when she got sick while she was helping Uncle Angel get his soul back" Sophie grinned, having heard the tale of this particular adventure many times now. She ran to hug the demon's legs. "Thank you for looking after Auntie Faith."

Lorne looked down at her, surprised, but couldn't help cracking a smile.

"Well, you're welcome, Sweetness." He paused, looking up at the group. "Who does this little Munchkin belong to?"

"She's ours" Willow grinned proudly, wrapping an arm around Tara's shoulders.

"Anyway" Faith frowned and crossed her arms, thinking they were getting off topic, "Lorne was just gonna tell me why he's been sneakin' around spyin' on us."

"I wasn't spying! Well, I guess I was a little, but I didn't mean to be" Lorne sighed. "It's kind of a long story. Maybe we should go sit down."

* * *

The group entered the bottom floor of the Hyperion, which appeared to be empty, apart from Spike crouching under the staircase cradling baby Jesse to his chest.

"Spike" said Buffy slowly, "What are you doing?"

"Heard a scuffle, thought I should get the baby out of the way" The vamp shuffled out from under the stairs and straightened himself out, trying to maintain some dignity. "There was a scuffle, wasn't there?"

"It was Lorne" said Faith, jabbing a thumb over her shoulder at the demon bringing up the rear of the group.

"Oh, hey" Spike greeted, sounding a little less surprised than the others would have expected. "Finally decided to come in, huh?"

The currently present Scoobies were gobsmacked.

"I knew he'd know.." Lorne gave a barely audible mumble.

"You knew?" Buffy yelled angrily at Spike, looking about ready to deck the vamp.

"You can't hit me, I'm with child!" cried Spike quickly, indicating Jesse. "Besides, it's Angel's fault. He knew it was Lorne that night we were chasing him down after Little Red saw him, but he decided to let him go 'cause he didn't want to force him into coming back if he wasn't ready."

"Really?" Lorne sounded a little surprised, sitting down in one of the familiar chairs. "I thought he was just giving up."

"Giving up?" said Spike incredulously. "Giving up? He's spent years trying to track you down, mate. He was worried that something had happened to you, what with Wes and Gunn biting it and the Senior Partners after the rest of us.."

"I know" Lorne sighed. For a while, had been easier for him to think Angel had forgotten him than it was to deal with his own troubled feelings, but a visit from a certain _power_-ful friend nearly two years previous had thrown that out the window. "Cordy-kins told me all that when she came to 'knock some sense into my stupid horny head'.. Her words, not mine. I've been wanting to come back since then, and last week I finally got the guts to do it, but when I got here I saw Faith and all the rest of you inside, so I chickened out and just stayed outside. I'm sorry if I scared anyone by sneaking around. I know it wasn't the smartest thing to do, but I was trying to wait for the right moment. Even after everything Cordelia told me, I wasn't sure what kind of reception I'd get from Angel.."

"A very warm one."

Lorne jumped, turning to see the original vamp with a soul making his way down the stairs. Illyria hovered at the top of them, wondering what was going on.

"Angel.."

"That hoodie doesn't suit you."

"I know, I.. Wait a minute" Lorne frowned, "Since when have you cared about fashion.

"Oh, I don't" said Angel quickly. "Cordelia asked me to tell you, when she popped into my bedroom a minute ago to drop off a box of your suits, and evertthing you need to make a Sea Breeze. That, and tell me to get my butt down here and welcome you home. So" The vamp smiled, "Welcome Home."

Lorne couldn't help but smile back.

"Thanks, Angel-cakes. Now what did I hear about a Sea Breeze?"


	42. We Are Family

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, Lily, Jesse, and Echo :)

AN: Last vacation snapshot, enjoy. Also, if Lily seems to be a little too smart for her age, keep in mind that with Willow as a Mother, she is likely to be gifted in the intelligence department. I was gifted at that age, as I could speak some full sentences.

* * *

A little while later, back in one of his trademark suits and with a Sea Breeze in his hand, Lorne chatted away with Angel about what they had been up to since they'd last seen each other. Anya, who hadn't been witness to the earlier reunion, had tried to tackle the demon when she came downstairs, but Xander had wisely halted the attack when he realised that nobody else was worried.

Giles and Andrew, recently returned from a trip to an Occult bookstore, sat nearby going over their newly acquired additions to the Slayer School library.

Tara sat with her leg up, while Willow rubbed vervain ointment over the sting on her ankle.

Dawn and Connor were admiring a bracelet which he had bought her 'just because'.

Buffy was snuggled in Faith's lap, and judging by the pink tinge in the blonde's cheeks, the Dark Slayer was whispering not-so-innocently into her ear.

Sophie sat watching 'The Lion King' with Illyria, and trying to explain that animals couldn't talk in real life, only movies.

Echo, exhausted by his long walk earlier, lay slumped on the floor, occasionally flicking his tail for Miss Kitty The 2nd to playfully bat at.

Lily toddled around happily, but, still being rather new to walking, stumbled and fell. Willow rushed to help, but Lorne, being closest, got there first.

"Whoa, that was quite a tumble, little lady" The demon smiled as he set her back on her feet. "Are you okay?"

Lily looked up at him, her little brain whirring. Lorne was new to her, but he seemed nice enough. Her Mommies and her sister seemed to like him, and Uncle Angel liked him a lot. But that didn't answer the question about the demon that had just popped into her head.

"Famee?"

"What?" asked Lorne, confused. Lily pointed to the rest of the group gathered around the room, then back at Lorne.

"Famee?" she repeated.

"Sorry Honey, I don't know what you're talking about" Lorne frowned.

"Famee!" Said Lily stubbornly. Obviously, the little girl was not going to give up until she got her answer. Willow's heart melted when she realised what her daughter was talking about.

"She's asking if you're part of our family, Lorne" she smiled, crouching by the demon on the floor before turning to address Lily. "Yeah, Sweetie, he is."

"I am?"

"Of course" Willow grinned.

"We're all a family" Sophie beamed, jumping to her feet and singing, wiggling her little butt as she did so. "_We are family! I've got all my sisters with me!"_

Lorne tried not to look too surprised at the greatness, and a few horrors, he could sense in Sophie's destiny when she sang. After all, he didn't want to worry anyone. So, he took his mind off it by joining in.

"_We are family! Get up everybody and sing! Everyone can see we're together, as we walk on by.."_

* * *

AN: I know it's short. The next one should be longer, promise.


	43. Responsibility

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, Lily, Jesse, and Echo :)

* * *

Willow sighed happily, snuggling deeper into Tara's side as they lay together in bed. Dawn and Connor had opted to stay in L.A a few extra weeks, and Buffy and Faith had taken the girls to the park, giving the witches a chance for some private time. Tara, deep in thought, stroked Willow's hair absent mindedly. When her wife's brow seemed to crinkle in concern, Willow frowned.

"Tara?" she asked.

"Mmm?"

"Are you okay?"

"Of course I am" Tara chuckled, dropping a kiss to her wife's forehead. "Why?"

"You looked worried" Willow replied.

"Oh no, I was just thinking.."

"About what?"

"Since we saw your parents in L.A," said Tara, "I've been thinking that.. I know it's not really a pleasant topic, but I've been thinking that there's some stuff we need to get sorted out, for Sophie and Lily, in case anything ever happens to us."

"Tara, nothing's going to happen to us" Willow frowned. "We've seen ourselves all old and wrinkly, remember?"

"Yes, Will, but we still need to have some plan just in case" said Tara seriously. "If anything does happen, and there's nothing legally saying we want otherwise, some Judge who doesn't know any better will give the girls to your parents, or my Father.."

"Okay, I get your point" Willow sighed. "So, who would we want to leave them with?"

Tara raised an eyebrow.

"You really need to ask that?"

"No, I guess not" Willow chuckled, beginning a trail of kisses down Tara's neck. "Now can we talk about this some more later? I kinda want to make the most of our remaining alone time.."

* * *

A few weeks later, Willow and Tara, after choosing a lawyer and checking with Angel that he had never worked at Wolfram & Heart, set up everything they needed to secure their daughters' future should anything happen to them.

When they arrived home, they found Buffy, Faith, Sophie, and Lily snuggled together on the couch. Each of the girls was in their favourite Aunt's lap, While Faith read from one of Sophie's favourite storybooks.

"In the light of the Moon, a little egg lay on a leaf. One Sunday Mornin', the warm Sun came up and 'Pop!' Out of the egg came a tiny.."

"..And very hungry caterpillar!" Sophie and Buffy chorused.

"Yeah" Faith chuckled. "So, he started to look for some food. On Monday he ate through one apple, but he was still hungry. On Tuesday, he ate through two pears.."

Willow and Tara continued to watch them, smiling, knowing they had made the right choice. They waited patiently until they finished the story.

"..He built a small home called a coccoon around himself. He stayed inside for more than two weeks. Then, he nibbled a hole in the coccoon, pushed his way out, and..

"He was a beautiful butterfly!" Sophie finished, grinning.

"Bubberfy!" Lily echoed.

"Uh-huh" Buffy smiled tickling the baby's stomach.

"Now" Faith smirked, closing the book and looking over her shoulder at the two Wiccans in the doorway, "What are you two hoverin' around for? Ready to tell us about that important thing you had to do today?"

"We are, actually" said Tara. "Can we talk to you and Buffy in the Kitchen?"

* * *

A few minutes later, Willow and Tara pushed a pen and a small stack of official looking papers towards the slightly confused Slayers.

"Uh.. What's this?" asked Buffy, puzzled.

"It's a Document naming you two as Sophie and Lily's legal guardians if anything happens to us" Willow explained. "We just need you to sign it."

"Okay" Faith surprised everyone with how quickly she reached for the pen and began sifting through the papers. "Where?"

"Hang on a minute" said Buffy, surprised, as she looked at her wiccan friends. "Are you serious?"

"Why wouldn't we be?" Tara frowned.

"Well, I mean.. Will, you're always threatening to never let us babysit again!"

"Yeah, but I'm never serious" Willow chuckled.

"But we're Slayers!" Buffy continued. "We have more chance of dying than you guys do!"

"There's a plan for that" said Faith, eyes scanning the document. "We're first choice, but 'in the event that we are unable to care for the children', Xander and Anya get custody."

"You're our first choice because nobody knows us and how we want to raise the girls better than you do, and they woluldn't have to be uprooted from their home" said Tara. "It just seems like the best thing."

"Ah, there we go" Faith found where she was supposed to sign and scribbled her signature, then slid the paper to her Wife. "B?"

Buffy frowned. Agreeing to care for somebody's children if they died was a big responsibility. But then she remembered how Willow's Mother hadn't noticed the haircut shed had for months, and Tara's Father raising a hand to push Sophie aside before she'd raised her forcefield. She sure as hell wouldn't handle it worse than they would.

"Gimme that pen."


	44. Anya's Tiny Human

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy. I do own Sophie, Lily, Jesse and Echo :)

* * *

Anya, in her first life, had never been sure she wanted to be a Mother, even though children were the next expected step after marriage. Babies were messy and loud, and they cost a lot of money. You had to watch them constantly to make sure they didn't endanger themselves, and watch yourself to make sure you didn't talk about inappropriate topics around them, which would be harder for Anya than most given that these inappropriate topics were her favourites. And, of course, there was the havoc pregnancy wreaked on a woman's body. It seemed like children were more trouble than they were worth.

But then, she went and got herself pregnant during an apocalypse, and was promptly killed a few days after she'd found out. Then, she had mourned for her child who had never had a chance to live just as much as she mourned for herself, and her relationship with Xander that had never had the chance to fully heal.

The baby, her tiny human as she'd called him even then, had stayed with her, nestled safely in her womb even after she'd died, comforting his Mother as the little piece of Xander she had left. Cordelia told her that didn't happen often. It was as if he knew that one day, they needed to go back to be with his Daddy.

Of course, Anya had had to watch Tara go back first, envying her as she watched her play with Sophie, then become pregnant with Lily. She couldn't really bare any ill will to her for this though, especially not after Tara had fought to get Anya her spot in Heaven, and named Lily after her.

Besides, it was Anya's turn soon enough. Faith resurrected her with her Slayerversary wish, and her tiny human came back too, which was good, because by then she would have felt empty without him (Always Him, she'd always known it was a boy).

On Buffy and Faith's Wedding Day, Anya had given birth to her tiny human, Jesse. Only he wasn't just her tiny human anymore, he was 'Daddy's little guy', and 'Auntie Dawn's favourite little nephew', and 'Lily's little friend', and 'Uncle Spike's little rebel' (Xander wasn't too happy about that last one). But he had been his Mommy's tiny human first.

"You hear that, tiny human?" Anya whispered to Jesse late one night as she tried to rock him back to sleep. "You were mine first. And you've been mine for a lot longer than you've been anyone else's, since because I was dead I ended up carrying you around inside me for nearly six years instead of the usual nine months.."

Jesse giggled and smiled up at her, already mirroring Xander's goofy grin.

Anya smiled back, kissing his dark hair, a lot thicker than it had been at his birth, and remembered how proud she had been when she'd first seen her son smile.

"I get it, now" she continued, speaking just as much to herself as to the baby boy in her arms. "I know why women have babies even though they're messy, and time consuming, and ruin their bodies. They're worth it, because they bring so much love and joy to their lives. You're worth it, Jesse, because you bring so much love and joy to your Daddy and me, and our lives have more meaning now because of you."

Jesse yawned, and began drifting off to sleep.

Anya rocked him for a little while longer, until she heard Xander creeping up behind her, and smiled. Now that she shared a child with him, she felt even more in love with him, if that was possible.

"Little guy sleeping yet?" he whispered.

"Yeah" said Anya quietly. "I was just.."

"I know" Xander smiled, stooping to kiss her cheek. "I'm kinda addicted to him too."

Anya gave Xander a quick kiss back, then stood and moved to lay Jesse back in his crib.

"Goodnight, my tiny human" she whispered, brushing a hand over his hair. "I love you."

* * *

AN: There, enjoy. Now to go finish my Valentine's one shot, 'A Scooby Family Valentine's Day', in which Sophie and Tara must help Faith retrieve Buffy's present from one of her jacket pockets before Buffy accidently finds it or puts it through the washing machine.


	45. Nurse Sophie

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy. I do own Sophie, Lily, Jesse and Echo :)

* * *

Faith groaned as she woke up. Her eyes watered, her nose was running, and she felt like she had swallowed razorblades. The Dark Slayer had a cold.

"Shit" she muttered.

"What's up ba.. Whoa" said Buffy, eyes widening as she rolled over to face her Wife. "You don't look so good."

"I feel like crap" Faith groaned, moving to sit up and get out of bed.

"And what do you think you're doing?" asked Buffy, frowning.

"I'm gonna try and walk this thing off, so I'm right for tonight's Patrol.."

"Oh no" said Buffy, pulling her back down. "There's no way you're going on Patrol tonight. In fact, there's no way you're going anywhere. You're going to stay right here in bed."

"But B.." Faith protested.

"No buts" said Buffy. "Do I have to tell you about the time I went Patrolling while I had the flu and passed out while Angelus was attacking?"

"But that turned out okay" Faith tried to point out. "You ended up savin' all those kids at the hospital."

"That's not the point, Faith" Buffy frowned. "I would have been killed if the gang hadn't been there, and even with them it was a pretty close call. I won't let you risk that Faith."

"Okay" The Dark Slayer huffed. "But you're gonna have to let me up to go pee ya know."

"Well.. Okay."

Faith breathed a sigh of relief, then climbed out of bed and headed for the bathroom.. With Buffy following her.

"B, what are you doin'?"

"I'm going to wait outside to make sure you go back to bed as soon as you're done."

Faith groaned and rubbed her temples. This was going to be a long day.

* * *

Buffy managed to convince Faith to go back to sleep for a while. When the Dark Slayer woke again later, she found Sophie standing at the foot of her bed, wearing a paper hat bearing the symbol of the Red Cross, and clutching a mug in her hands. She couldn't help but smile.

"Hey, Little Red" she croaked, sore throat making her voice even huskier than usual. "What're you up to?"

"Auntie Buffy went to go buy chicken noodle soup, so I have to be your Nurse, and make sure you stay in bed while she's gone" Sophie grinned. "And if you get past me, Echo's guarding the door."

"Great, she's gone and turned my own dog against me" Faith grumbled. "What's in that cup, medicine or somethin'?"

"No" Sophie giggled, walking around to the side of the bed and offering her favourite aunt the mug. "It's honey and lemon. Mama Tara made it, she said it's good for sore throats."

Faith took the mug and had a sip, letting the soothing liquid slide down her throat.

"Thanks, that is helpin' a little."

"Good. You know what else Mama Tara says is good for sore throats?"

"What?"

"Ice-cream and Jell-O" Sophie grinned again. "Mama Tara's got a Jell-O mould setting in the fridge right now. Auntie Buffy said not to let you have any until after you eat your soup later, but Mama Tara said we can sneak you some if it's ready before she gets back."

"Damn, you two really aren't as innocent as ya look are you?" asked Faith, raising an eyebrow. "What's with all the sneakin'?"

"I think it reminds Mama Tara of when she did fun things with her Mama" Sophie shrugged. "Most of the time, they had to sneak around so her Daddy wouldn't find out."

"I get that. I used to have to sneak around a lot when I was a kid.." Faith trailed off her expression hardening slightly, and Sophie frowned, climbing onto the bed.

"Are you okay, Auntie Faith? You look like you need a hug.."

"Probably shouldn't Little Red" Faith snapped out of her trance, shaking her head to rid her mind of unpleasant memories. "You don't want to get sick too, do ya?"

"I wouldn't mind" Sophie shrugged, wriggling under Faith's arm. She adjusted her nurse hat, which had fallen slightly askew. "I don't get sick much anyway, not since I've been with my Mommies."

That was true. Faith had never seen Sophie sick. Nowadays, the fact that she was small for her age of almost-six seemed to be the only mark left by her her early life with the demons. Unlike Faith, who would bear the scars of her childhood forever..

"Auntie Faith?" Sophie frowned again.

"Mmm?"

"You're not gonna be like you're Mommy."

"What?"

"You're not gonna be like you're Mommy" Sophie repeated. "Just because you're Mommy was a bad Mommy doesn't mean you're gonna be. I saw you with your baby girl when I was in the future, and you were a really good Mommy. You rocked her and whispered to her and she stopped crying, just like that!"

"Just like that, huh?" Faith smiled.

"Uh-huh" Sophie nodded. They fell silent for a while, until Nurse Sophie reached up to feel her Patient's forehead. "You feel a bit warm, Auntie Faith. I'm gonna go check if the Jell-O is ready." She jumped of the bed, and paused. "Auntie Faith, am I helping you feel better like a real Nurse is 'sposed to?"

"Much better" Faith grinned.

"Good." Sophie made it to the doorway, before turning back again. "Auntie Faith?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"Love you too, Little Red."

* * *

A few days later, The Dark Slayer woke up feeling much better. Beside her, her Wife woke up feeling like Hell.

"I think I caught your cold" Buffy croaked.

"You stay in bed" Faith teased, smirking. "I'll go get Nurse Sophie.."


	46. Best Friends

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy. I do own Sophie, Lily, Jesse and Echo :)

AN: After this, I'll post the first chapter of 'The Trials Of Motherhood', the next full story in the Willow's Child Universe. However, I'll still keep posting Snapshots, to fill in the four-year gap between this story and the previous one.

* * *

"Anya, Jesse couldn't have called you Mama yet, he's only three months old!" Tara chuckled, as the two women sat in the Kitchen having a cup of tea. "I know it might have sounded like it, but.."

"I'm telling you, he did!" Anya protested. "My tiny human is a prodigy!"

Tara laughed and shook her head, then glanced towards the loungeroom where little Jesse lay on a blanket, while Lily laid on her stomach beside him babbling away happily. Tara smiled. Her baby could walk quite confidently on her own now, she was learning new words quickly, and yesterday, Willow had quite excitedly declared that her hair was almost long enough to put into little pigtails. But although Lily could walk and talk, and was your typical energetic toddler a great majority of the time, she also seemed to have an understanding beyond her age of the fact that Jesse couldn't do either of these things yet, and so was perfectly happy to just lay down and babble with him.

"I wonder if people would pay money to see him?" Anya mused. "Maybe we could get him on Oprah, or America's Got Talent.."

"I really don't think that's a good idea" said Tara, trying not to laugh.

"Why not?" Anya pouted.

"Well.." Tara was cut off when Miss Kitty The 2nd zoomed by, closely followed by Echo. The two animals usually got along fine, though were still prone to occasional bouts of feline-canine rivalry. As these were so rare, their Masters usually let it be. The problem this time was that as they raced into the lounge, Miss Kitty leapt onto a wall unit, which began to topple. The Kitten leapt to safety, but the wall unit lurched forwards, looking as if it was going to fall right on top of Lily and Jesse. Their panicked Mothers rushed in.. And the wall unit tipped back into its original position.

"Oh Tara, thank you!" cried a relieved Anya as she scooped Jesse into her arms, assuming her friend had magically prevented the near tragedy.

"I didn't do anything" said Tara, shocked. The two women turned to Lily, mouths agape, as the little girl lowered her arm. Then, she turned to look at Jesse with the same concerned expression that his Mother currently wore.

"Jesse 'kay?"

"Yes" said Anya slowly as she looked him over, still recovering from the shock of what had almost happened. "He's okay. Um.. Thank you for saving him, Lily."

"Bes' fend" said Lily, pointing at Jesse, who gurgled happily at the sound of her voice. Tara couldnt help but notice that her expression had morphed into a miniature version of Willow's resolve face. "No let bad happen."

"That's good.. Um, Tara, it's probably time for their nap, isn't it?"

"I think so" Tara smiled as she scooped up Lily, who reached over to do her own inspection of Jesse.

* * *

They put the children down in Lily's room, Jesse in a port-a-cot set up by his 'bes' fend's' crib.

"Lily looks a lot like Willow, doesn't she?" said Anya thoughtfully as they headed back downstairs.

"She does."

"Jesse looks like Xander.."

"Mmhmm.."

"And Willow would never let anything happen to Xander if she could help it.."

"No, she wouldn't" Tara smirked.

"We don't have many pictures of them together, do we?"

"Willow and Xander?" Tara frowned.

"No, Lily and Jesse" Anya clarified.

"There's one from Lily's Birthday party" said Tara, brow scrunched in thought, "But apart from that, no."

"We should take some" said Anya, "When they wake up."

"We will" Tara smiled.


	47. Family Tree

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy. I do own Sophie, Lily, Jesse and Echo :)

AN: I should mention that from this point, some Snapshots will foreshadow events in 'The Trials Of Motherhood'. Also, for those of you reading 'The Little Merwitch', would you like me to do the sequel at some point? I need to ask because it will affect my casting decisions for the rest of the first one.

* * *

_"I'm s-sorry, Daddy!" Five-year old Tara cowered in the corner as her Father approached. "I didn't m-mean to spill y-your drink, Donny p-pushed me.."_

* * *

"P-Please Daddy, stop!"

"Tara! Tara, baby, wake up!"

Tara started awake, finding Willow's concerned green eyes staring down at her.

"Nightmares again.."

"Mhmm" Willow nodded, kissing her Wife's forehead. "Are you okay?"

"It's not me I'm worried about" Tara sighed. "It's.."

"Sophie" Willow needlessly replied.

"Yeah. I need to go check on her.."

"Okay" Willow nodded. "You do that, and I'll look in on Lily, just in case.."

* * *

Tara crept down the hallway to Sophie's bedroom. She had a brief moment of panic when her daughter wasn't in her bed, but soon relaxed when she spotted her standing at the window cuddling Miss Kitty The 2nd.

"Hi, Mama Tara" she said, not needing to turn around.

"Hey. I thought I'd come check on you because.."

"You had a nightmare" said Sophie. "I know. I always know."

"You do" Tara sighed. Sophie shouldn't have to deal with all that at her age. She moved to kneel at her daughter's side, laying a comforting hand on her shoulder. "What are you up to?"

"Looking at the stars" Sophie explained, letting Miss Kitty scamper off before crawling into her Mother's lap and snuggling against her chest, once again reminding Tara how small she was for her age. "It's the first thing you and me really did together, and it reminds me that everything's okay now. I'm not with the demons, and you're not with you're Daddy. We're with Mommy Willow, and Lily, and everybody, and were safe now, 'cause they're not gonna let anything happen to us."

"No, they're not" Tara smiled. They stayed silent for a while, enjoying the comfort of each other's company.

"Mama Tara, can you keep a secret?"

"About what?"

"Well, Cordelia came and told me some stuff a while ago, and I drawed a picture about it." Sophie explained. "Cordy said I could only show it to one person, and I'd know who. I think it's 'sposed to be you."

"Okay.." said Tara, slightly confused.

Sophie scrambled out of her lap, then began rummaging around in a box under her bed, pulling out a piece of paper.

"Here!" Sophie grinned, handing the paper to Tara, before returning to her previous spot on her lap. "It's our family tree. It's got everybody, even the ones who aren't bornded yet!"

Tara smiled at the drawing. At the top of the page was a little drawing of Giles, complete with a book with the word 'Vampyr' scrawled on it. Pictures of Joyce aand Tara's Mother stood either side of him. The two women wore little halos. A drawing of Angel stood on on one side of Joyce. Tara's Father, Buffy and Dawn's Father, and Willow, Xander, Faith, and Andrew's parents were noticeably absent. A line linked Angel to Connor, while three more linked Joyce to Buffy and Dawn, Tara to her Mother, and Giles to all those he considered his children.

Tara's smile widened as she continued down the paper. She and Willow, Buffy and Faith, Connor and Dawn, and Xander and Anya were each connected with little love hearts. Pictures of Spike, Lorne, and Illyria were bunched together at the edge of the page.

"There wasn't room for them anywhere else" said Sophie sheepishly.

"That's okay" Tara chuckled.

Now, this was the interesting part. Beneath Xander and Anya was a picture of Jesse, of course, and, three little girls. Two of them were holding hands and had been drawn almost identical, so Tara assumed them to be twins. Beneath Connor and Dawn were two little boys, apparently also twins, and a girl. Buffy and Faith were someday going to be blessed with a dark-haired little girl and aa small blonde boy. And she and Willow, beside the two beautiful girls they already had.. were going to become parents to a little red-haired boy, with one green eye, and one blue one.

"Will he really.."

"That's what I saw!" Sophie grinned. "Cute, isn't he?"

"Yeah" Tara smiled, before suddenly remembering it was the middle of the night. "I should get you back to bed.."

"Can I come sleep with you?"

"Well.. Okay" Tara laughed, tucking the drawing back into the box and standing to scoop Sophie into her arms and head back to bed, where they could now sleep soundly, dreaming sweet dreams of the big, happy family in their future.


	48. Lily And Jesse's Wild Ride

Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy. I do own Sophie, Lily, Jesse, and Echo.

AN: Now that Lily's powers have started to surface, this Snapshot begins the transition of Lily from a sweet baby to the cheeky little girl you see in 'The Trials of Motherhood'. Enjoy!

* * *

It was a Sunny Saturday in Cleveland, so Buffy, Faith, Willow, Tara, and the girls agreed to join Anya and Jesse for an afternoon in the park.

"First one to the slide is a dusted vamp!" cried Faith.

"You're on!" said Buffy.

"No fair!" Sophie pouted as she chased after them. "You've got super slayer-y powers!"

"Where's Willow again?" asked Anya, as she and Tara sat at a nearby bench, Lily in her stroller and Baby Jesse in his pram.

"There was a sale at her favourite Bookstore, she's going to meet us here soon" Tara explained.

"Okay" Anya replied. "So, the 'America's Got Talent' auditions were advertised yesterday.."

"Anya, I already told you, Jesse couldn't have called you 'Mama' already.."

As the two women chatted, neither of them noticed as Jesse floated from his pram into Lily's stroller, before said stroller rolled off down the footpath.

"But he _can _say it!" Anya insisted. "He's just a little shy in front of other people aren't you my tiny.. Ah!" Anya shrieked. "He's gone! My tiny human is gone!"

"So is mine!" Tara panicked, looking around before spotting Lily'stroller, with both children inside, rounding a corner a short distance away. "There they are!"

"Weeeeeeeeeeeee!" Lily cried.

"After them!" Anya yelled, she and Tara taking off in the direction the stroller had headed.

"What's goin' on?" asked Faith, piggybacking Sophie, as she and Buffy caught up.

"Lily decided to magically hijack her stroller and take Jesse for a joyride" Tara puffed.

"Your daughter kidnapped my son!" cried Anya.

"I think you're overreacting a little.."

"Overreacting? My baby is in a stroller being driven by a one year old!"

"Mama Tara, Auntie Anya, don't gots time to argue!" Sophie yelled. "They're getting away!"

"Nobody panic" said Buffy, running ahead of the group. "Slayer here, remember? I've got this."

Buffy caught up to the stroller and just grabbed hold of it, before it magically sped up and sharply turned off the path into the grass, pulling free of Buffy's grip and causing her to fall face first onto the ground.

"Weeeeeeeeeeeee!" cheered Lily again.

"You've got this, huh?" Anya frowned.

"Not the time, Anya!" Faith snapped, still in pursuit of the stroller while Tara helped Buffy to her feet.

"Yeah!" Sophie agreed. "We've gotta get our babies back!"

"Look out!" yelled Tara, causing a group of people to dive out of the way as the stroller crashed through their Picnic.

"They're headed for the pond!" screamed Anya.

Suddenly, the stroller turned again, heading back to the footpath.

"No they're not!" cried Buffy.

They chased the babies through the park for what felt like forever.

"Maybe.. Maybe Lilypad'll just get exhausted and stop" Faith suggested hopefully.

"Or maybe they'll roll right into the road!" Anya screamed again, as the stroller headed towards the Park gates.. right as Willow turned to walk through them.

Eyes wide with surprise, she threw up a hand and the stroller magically screeched to a halt.

"Why didn't you think of that?" Anya frowned at Tara.

"Sometimes it's hard to think clearly when your child is in danger" said Tara, a little embarrassed.

"Would someone like to explain what the hell happened here?" asked a very confused Willow, handing Jesse to a relieved Anya, who set about searching him for any sign of harm.

"Well, we might need to try and talk to Lily about when it is and isn't okay to use magic" said Tara.

"How?" Willow frowned. "She's only one!"

As her Mother said this, Lily floated her Willow Bear into the air, forcing Buffy to grab it before anyone saw.

"This could be a problem" she sighed.

Lily giggled.


	49. A Heart Too Big For A Bedside Table

Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy. I do own Sophie, Lily, Jesse, and Echo.

AN: This Snapshot features a direct link to the next chapter of The Trials of Motherhood, so I'll try to post them close together.

* * *

When they had first met Faith Lehane, none of the Scoobies had any idea of the big heart that existed beneath her Bad-girl exterior.

They were all too caught up in their own teenage dramas, like Willow and Xander's fluke, or Buffy's never ending Angel problems, to devote any real time to getting to know the new Slayer. If they had, if any one of them had just been patient, just dug a little deeper, she could have loved them all then the way she loved them now, and some of that year's more unpleasant events may never.. Well, it wouldn't do them any good to dwell on that.

The point was, Faith did love the Scoobies now. Buffy, of course. Willow, Xander, Giles.. she loved them all. There was no hiding that heart anymore, especially when she was around the kids, or Tara, or her beloved dog, Echo.

The Dark Slayer's bedside table was chock-full of photos of the Family the Scoobies had built for themselves. One of Sophie taken not long after her arrival in their lives. The first photo Buffy and Faith had taken as a couple. Faith and Sophie together. A picture of Tara. Of Echo as a puppy. One of Buffy holding baby Lily. Buffy and Faith's Wedding photo. The photo of Faith and Giles taken that day, of which Giles had a matching copy in his Father's Day macaroni frame, proudly displayed on his desk.

It was starting to get a little crowded with all those pictures, and Faith was still adding more.

But even as she did so, Buffy couldn't help but notice that her Wife always kept one spot clear, as if she was saving it. For what, or who, Buffy didn't know.

* * *

"You could spread those out a little, you know" Buffy suggested, as Faith added a picture of baby Jesse to her collection. "If you just moved a few around, into that spot there.."

"No" Faith shook her head, confirming her Wife's suspicions. "I'm keepin' that spot for someone special."

"What kind of someone?" Buffy asked, curious.

"Well, our someone" said Faith, a little awkwardly. "Our kid. I need to have room for pictures whenever she comes. So, this spot is hers."

"Aww" Buffy kissed her cheek. "You are absolutely adorable sometimes, you know that?"

"Don't tell anyone" Faith smirked.

"Everyone who matters already knows, baby" Buffy laughed. "Hey, you could hang some of those photos on the wall if you need more space."

"Yeah!" Faith grinned. "Why didn't I think of that?"

Buffy watched, smiling, as her wife re-arranged the pictures, deciding which ones to move. It made sense to spread them out. The Dark Slayer's heart was much to big to fit on a bedside table.


	50. Mama

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy. I do own Sophie, Lily, Jesse and Echo :)

* * *

One pleasant Saturday Afternoon in Cleveland, Tara found herself being left home alone with her two beautiful daughters. The reason? Tara's Birthday was fast approaching, so the rest of the Scoobies were heading off (Or in poor Connor's case, being dragged) to the Mall in search of appropriate presents.

Unlike her first Birthday with the gang, when they, aside from her beloved Willow, of course, were completely stumped on present ideas, most of The Scoobies now found Tara fairly easy to buy for, so they didn't need her to go with them and choose something.

Tara loved surprises, so she preferred it this way. She also loved the special one-on-one, or rather, one-on-two time with her girls that the otherwise empty house allowed her. Usually, they would spend this time baking cakes, and having tea parties, and playing all the little girly games that Tara hadn't been able to when she was..

"Mama Tara, Lily's got a fever!"

Well, there went that plan.

* * *

Sophie, little dress-up Nurse's cap perched atop her head, frowned as she watched her Mother pace back and forth across the Nursery, whispering words of comfort to poor sick Lily.

"Mama Tara?"

"Mmm?"

"Lily's gonna be okay, isn't she?"

"Of course she is" said Tara, touched by Sophie's concern for her little sister. "She's just caught a little bug, that's all."

"Did it bite her?" asked Sophie, eyes widening.

"No" Tara chuckled. "You know that germs are what make people sick sometimes, right?"

"Uh-huh" Sophie nodded. "That's why you always gotta wash your hands. Did Lily's bug have germs?"

"No. 'Bug' can be another name for a germ."

"Oh.. Mama Tara?"

"Yes?"

"Mm..T.. Tawa!" Lily fussed, apparently annoyed at having her Mother's attention stolen from her, but Tara gently shushed her, knowing this was not Sophie's intention.

"Can I do anything to help her get better?" She pointed to her cap, smiling her lopsided smile. "It's my job!"

Tara grinned. Her daughter was absolutely adorable. And finally, after Willow's constant reminders of which parent Sophie most closely resembled, Tara had to admit that she must have been a pretty cute child herself.

"Hmm. Well, Nurse Sophie, do you think you could go get Lily's sippy cup and fill it up with water for me?" Tara asked. "It's important to make sure people drink enough when they're sick."

"Okay, Mama Tara" said Sophie, rushing off to complete her task. "I'll be really quick!"

As Sophie left, Tara settled down in the familiar rocking chair in the corner of the room, gently rubbing Lily's back. The chair had gone unused for a while, since Lily usually slept through the night now. The little girl was growing up so fast.

"Mm.. Mm.." Lily whined.

"What's wrong, Sweetie?" Tara frowned. "Are you going to throw up?"

"Mm.. Ma.. Mama."

Tara froze.

"Did you just.."

"Mama" Lily repeated. "Mama Tawa."

Tara felt a huge smile spreading over her face. Lily had dubbed her 'Tawa' a while ago, but the 'Mama' part was new. And amazing.

"Sophie!" she had to share this with someone, and at the moment her eldest daughter was her only option. "Sophie, come here!"

"What is it?" Sophie cried as she sped back in, now-full sippy cup in hand. "Is Lily okay?"

"She's fine, Sophie" said Tara, still grinning.

"Why'd you call for me then?" Sophie frowned, confused.

"I just had to tell somebody.. Your sister called me Mama."

"She did?" Sophie smiled. "Good! She's wanted to do that for ages!"

"How do you know that?" asked Tara, curious, taking the sippy cup from Sophie and handing it to Lily.

"Lily thinks stuff she can't say yet" Sophie explained. "I can hear what she thinks."

"You can, huh?" said Tara, glancing between her daughters.

"Uh-huh."

"What else does she think?"

"Oh, lots of things.."

* * *

"That's not fair!" Willow pouted as she and Tara prepared for Bed that night.

"I think it's very fair" Tara chuckled. "Lily said your name first."

"Not that" Willow sighed. "That's fair. But now my Birthday present feels kinda inferior. I mean, what could possibly top your baby calling you 'Mama' for the first time?"

"Aww, Willow. I'm sure I'll love it, whatever it is."

"Sure.."

"I will!" said Tara, pulling her Wife into a kiss. "And you know what? Lily calling me Mama was awesome, I admit, and it's cool that she some how did it so close to my Birthday.. But, you've already given me something just a little bit better."

"What?" Willow frowned.

"You gave me my Real Family, Will. Nothing can ever top that."

* * *

AN: Aww. Soon I'm going to start my Christmas fic for this year, 'The Quest For A Charlie Brown Christmas'. Here's the summary: Willow's Child Universe. When his old 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' video wears out at the start of the Holiday season and threatens his childhood traditions, Xander becomes depressed. The other Scoobies unite to find him a new copy by Christmas Eve, which turns out to be harder than they think.


End file.
